April 1, 2016
The Levy County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center received
several calls from citizens reporting a reckless driver on SR 121 at
approximately 11:30 pm last night. Deputy Ryan Sullivan located the green
Mustang described by the 911 callers as it turned on to US 19 in Lebanon
Station driving south in the north bound lane.
Deputy Sullivan paralleled the Mustang driving south
in the north bound lane with his emergency lights and siren on attempting to
gain the driver’s attention and get him stopped. However, the driver identified
as Shane Steven Sparks (12-17-72) accelerated to speeds in excess of 100 mph
into on-coming traffic. Deputy Justin T. Mashburn, who assisted Deputy
Sullivan, blocked the north bound traffic just north of the Town of Inglis
in an attempt to protect other motorists.
Deputy Sullivan’s attempts to stop Sparks were
unsuccessful. Sparks continued to flee from Deputy Sullivan and when he approached
Deputy Mashburn’s roadblock, he intentionally swerved to strike Deputy Mashburn’s
patrol vehicle. Deputy Sullivan was authorized to utilize the PIT maneuver and was
able to successfully stop Sparks before he caused injury to other motorists.
Upon being taken into custody, Deputies suspected
Sparks was under the influence of unknown substances. He was transported to
Seven Rivers Hospital and was cleared medically before being transported to the
Levy County Detention Facility for booking. Sparks has been charged with
fleeing and attempt to elude Law Enforcement, reckless driving, assault on a
Law Enforcement Officer and possession of narcotics. This investigation is
still on-going and additional charges could be filed. He is currently being
held on a $250,000 bond.
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