INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A New York man allegedly threatened to kill officers with bombs, a gun and his car during an hour-long chase that started in Brevard County and ended in Indian River County.
Joeseph Luzier, 35, of New York faces three counts of felony attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, two counts of felony aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, two counts of violation of probation of a felony offense, felony resisting arrest with violence, and felony aggravated flee and elude, according to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
The chase lasted a little more than one hour, according to the report, ending with Luzier’s arrest at the Shell Station at 9520 State Road 60 in Vero Beach.
He was taken into custody without incident.
Luzier was stopped by authorities at 2:22 a.m. Saturday in Cocoa Beach in a white Jeep, according to authorities. He was improperly parked on a Brevard street, blocking a lane.
After a Brevard law enforcement officer ran his plate, they found Luzier was a sexual offender and was supposed to maintain a driving log.
When asked, Luzier handed over the log. The log was off by 110 miles from what his odometer said, according to a police report.
Because of this, Luzier was asked to step out of the vehicle; he refused three times, according to the report. When Brevard authorities attempted to remove him from the vehicle he put the Jeep in gear and sped away. During this time, he dragged two law enforcement officers five to 10 feet, police said.
“Had we not been able to free ourselves from the vehicle and push away from it, it would have run both of us over with the rear wheels due to the angle of the vehicle was traveling at,” said one officer.
The chase found its way onto southbound Interstate 95.
At one point, an officer with the Melbourne Police Department attempted to deploy a tire deflation device, according to authorities. Luzier intentionally swerved at the officer, causing him to dive out of the way. If he hadn’t done so, Luzier would have hit him at 50 mph to 60 mph, the report states.
This method was tried several other times with Luzier driving off the roadway to avoid multiple devices. Luzier’s speed hit 85 mph to 100 mph during the chase.
Luzier said to authorities he “would kill the next law enforcement officer he sees,” and that he had a gun in the vehicle, according to the report. Also that “he had bombs and was about to detonate them.”
During the chase, Luzier hit his brakes several times making pursuit vehicles narrowly avoid crashes on three separate occasions.
Luzier is currently being held at the Indian River County Jail without bond.
