FORT MYERS, FL -- An innocent bystander died Thursday afternoon in Fort Myers after a Lee County Sheriff’s Office detective hit the man’s car during a high-speed chase, according to the Florida Highway Patrol and a witness.
However, their reports differ as to whether the detective had turned on his vehicle’s sirens.
Mateo F. Matias Mateo, 61, of Fort Myers, died after he turned his 2000 Honda Civic into the oncoming path of a 2007 Ford Explorer driven by Detective Timothy Galloway, 37, of Fort Myers, according to an FHP incident report released Thursday night. The Highway Patrol is investigating the accident, rather than the Sheriff’s Office.
Galloway was responding to the chase in the unmarked Sheriff’s Office sport utility vehicle to set up a perimeter, the report says. It also says that Galloway was traveling at an undetermined speed in the 45-mph zone, and that he turned on his lights and sirens.
The witness, who described the crash as a high-speed collision, said he noticed the SUV’s lights as it raced down Palm Beach Boulevard, but said it didn’t have its sirens activated.
“There was no backseat,” Juan Arauz, 20, said when describing the victim’s car after the impact.
Deputies eventually caught and arrested the subjects of the chase, a pair of suspected burglars, little more than a mile from the crash scene. Adrian James Powell, 32, of 4027 S.W. 24th Street, Lehigh Acres and David Jarrod Newsome, 26, of 3022 2nd Street, Fort Myers were both charged with single counts of grand theft auto, burglary, possession of burglary tools, felony fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest.
Another, less serious, crash occurred at the scene of the arrest.
The chase began on Sunshine Boulevard in Lehigh Acres, moved to Interstate 75 and ended with the men abandoning the vehicle at Woodside and Prospect avenues in Fort Myers, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Larry King.
The fatal accident, at the intersection of Palm Beach and Buena Vista boulevards, occurred as deputies gave chase along Palm Beach Boulevard, soon after leaving the interstate. The FHP report said the accident happened at 2:51 p.m.
Arauz said he and relatives saw about 10 Sheriff’s Office cruisers rush west on Palm Beach Boulevard, a helicopter giving chase overhead. A few minutes later, he saw Galloway’s vehicle driving fast in the same direction, its lights flashing but with no siren audible, he said.
Mateo’s silver Honda Civic, which was headed east on Palm Beach Boulevard, pulled out in front to make a U-turn into the west lane at the same time, he said.
“All the sudden we hear screeching tires and the cop car came and hit the Honda Civic from behind, then came and hit the truck,” he said.
The truck, a black 2003 Ford F-150, didn’t appear seriously damaged as it was being hauled from the scene. The driver, Arauz said, was shaken but appeared uninjured. The FHP report says the driver, Miguel Colon, 52, of Cape Coral, was uninjured.
Mateo was in much worse shape, he said. The car’s sides were pushed together, leaving little room inside. The FHP report says Mateo died at the scene.
Arauz said Galloway stopped his car three blocks down the road. The report says Galloway attempted to steer to the right to avoid hitting Mateo’s car, but was unable to avoid the collision.
The FHP report says Galloway received minor injuries. He was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital and released, King said.
The other accident occurred at Woodside and Prospect avenues, little more than a mile from the other accident, where the two suspects ditched their vehicle, a black Nissan Armada. King said Detective Chris Lalor sideswiped a telephone pole with his cruiser as the suspects ran toward a clearing.
Lalor was taken to a hospital, treated and released.
