SEBASTIAN — A man accused of shooting an officer at Earl’s Hideaway Lounge & Tiki Bar was involved in a high speed chase with the same officer a couple weeks earlier, police said.
Police gave Ward Kenyon, 28, of Micco, an extra felony charge of high speed fleeing and eluding for the prior incident. He is being held at the Indian River County Jail without bond.
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Kenyon was originally charged with violation of probation after the Sebastian bar shooting that left him and officer Tegpreet “Preet” Singh injured. The violation of probation is for a 2015 conviction in connection with an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon incident, court records show.
Singh had attempted to arrest Kenyon, who had an active warrant, after learning that he was at the bar, located at 1405 Indian River Drive, Sebastian.
Singh is the same officer that was led on a high speed chase by Kenyon a couple weeks before the bar shooting, police said.
Police said shortly after 11 p.m. Sept. 26, Singh was driving at the intersection of Main Street and U.S. 1 when he noticed a green 2-door pickup truck driving southbound with a passenger side headlight out. When Singh activated his siren, the vehicle made a U-turn back onto U.S. 1 and began traveling north in the southbound lanes at a high rate of speed.
Singh followed the vehicle, which was going about 80 mph, police said. The vehicle ran a red light and Jackson Street and U.S. 1. Before entering Brevard County, the vehicle was still traveling in the wrong lane with an increased speed of about 100 mph.
As the the vehicle entered Brevard County, it slowed down, turned into the parking lot of a business, came back out and started traveling southbound, police said. The vehicle then turned onto Daytona Boulevard, which is a side road, and cut off its lights.
When Singh pulled up to Daytona Boulevard, he saw a man, later identified as Kenyon, running to the back of a house. Singh noticed Kenyon had crashed his vehicle into another parked vehicle in a driveway in the area of Central Avenue and 13th Street.
Singh and K-9 patrol units searched for Kenyon, but couldn’t find him. They traced the vehicle Kenyon was in and determined it belonged to Kenyon’s ex-girlfriend.
Singh spoke with the ex-girlfriend on Sept. 30, and she told him Kenyon had her truck. Singh also was given a booking photo of Kenyon, and he believed it was the same man who drove the truck in the pursuit.
On Oct. 11, two days after the bar shooting, Kenyon spoke with investigators at Holmes Regional Medical Center and admitted he was driving the pickup when Singh tried to stop him and that he crashed the truck in Brevard County.
Kenyon was taken to the county jail for booking.