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One Arrested After High Speed Chase That Led To School Lockdowns
April 4, 2013
A high speed chase involving a suspect believed to have an AK-47 ended with three schools on lockdown this morning.
Deputies responded to Village Mobile Home Park on Highway 29 about 10 a.m. after a report of an armed disturbance. The suspect, 33-year old Ellis Roy Clark, had threatened the victim several times over the past two days and had returned this morning and begin to violently beat upon the victim’s door, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sena Maddison said.
The victim had observed a handgun in Clark’s possession and also indicated he believed that he carried an AK47 in the trunk of his 2006 Ford Taurus. Clark fled the mobile home park before deputies arrived.
He returned 15 minutes later, and the victim called law enforcement again. The suspect fled upon seeing arriving officers and was pursued to Longleaf Drive just east of Wymart Road where he lost control of the vehicle and was taken into custody. There were no injuries to officers or Clark.
Nearby Pine Forest High, West Florida High and Longleaf Elementary schools were placed on lockdown as a precaution.
Clark has been charged with aggravated stalking, knowingly driving while license suspended/revoked, driving with an expired license, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, fleeing and eluding an officer and reckless driving.
Clark is facing additional charges of reckless driving, leaving the scene with injuries, driving with a suspended license and failure to stop for stop sign in connection with a traffic crash at Highway 29 and Ensley Street during the pursuit.
The Florida Highway Patrol said deputies were few blocks behind Clark he ran a stop sign from Ensley Street to Highway 29 and slid into a 1989 Chevrolet Silverado driven by 36-year old James B. Williams of Pensacola. Williams was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital with minor injuries.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 23-year old Madeline Kathleen Gonzalez was a passenger in Clark’s vehicle during the pursuit. She was not injured in the crash. There were no charges filed against Gonzalez.
Pictured top: A high speed pursuit ended on Longleaf Drive not far from Pine Forest High School this morning. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Comments
28 Responses to “One Arrested After High Speed Chase That Led To School Lockdowns”
“possession of a firearm by a convicted felon”. That was one of the charges against him, misses Clark. That means a credible witness, victim or LEO saw him with a gun. Otherwise he would not have been charged with it. Keep supporting your felon. He’ll appreciate you more when he’s away in prison. If he was such an upstanding citizen with nothing to hide, he wouldn’t have led the Deputies on a 20 mile high speed chase. Your right about one thing. He did teach the Deputies something. How to catch a criminal during a high speed chase. If he had taught them how to drive, he would have gotten away.
Sounds like the “Misses Clark” sure is proud of her man.
Is there a reason he couldn’t just pull his car over before he hurt someone?
“Just because someone has a dirty past doesnt mean you hold that over there head for life. And dont be so quick to assume someone has a gun.”
The best predictor of a person’s behavior is his past behavior. Mr Clark’s track record tells me he has no regard for the law and no respect for what belongs to other people. It will be interesting to see what a liberal judge does in this case.
just to set the record straight, my boyfriend never had a gun!!! there was no gun ever found in the car. period. the police responded to a call…nothing more nothing less. you have do what you have to do to go home to your family everyday dont you?? well this is another example. ellis clark never harmed anybody in his life, even during a horrible car chase he still yielded for oncoming traffic and blew his horn warning other cars. still making complete stops, trust me i was in the car. so if you dont know what you are talking about then just read and learn something because the damn police dont even know what really happened all together that day, they were soooooooooooooo far behind the whole car chase!! embarrassed i think they were, “good job leo’s” thats a joke. since everyone else has an opinion ill tell you mine, ellis clark taught leos how to drive that day. the news or papers never mention how many times we came up and down palafox or how long it truly was before they forced his car to total. point is, they knew who he was, they had a tag number and knew his address so why didnt they issue a warrant and end persuit? to create drama for simple minded northernescambia folks like yall to talk about and feel like you are really protected. your not protected your being lied to and robbed for your tax dollars. god knows the truth and truly will be the only person to judge ellis! believe that, goodnight!
Key words… he knowingly…convicted felon…posession of firearms…all the credentials of a lifetime loser…put him in prison for life …its where he belongs
Lock Him Up And Throw Away The Key!!!!
You ask why so many Officers responded? There were reports of a AK-47 Assualt rifle in the car. If you think this is not a big thing, I will be glad to let you with a handgun or shotgun while alone take on a criminal with a AK-47. Furthermore if he had that rifle there was a great chance he had other dangerous weapons in his possession and while the passenger seems to be innocent in the heat of things no one knew that, so there could have very well be two people with assault rifles.. Were there to much response to this. ABSOLUTELY NOT! GOOD JOB OFFICERS!!
Great job! I have granddaughters in two of those schools and their safety is paramount! Love you girls!
i feel so sorry for all the law enforcement officers of today. they put their lives on the line everyday and do as they promised by trying to keep our towns and cities safe. The really sad part is after they book then into jail for breaking our laws we must all live by. Then you have what we know as the justice system. Our system needs a serious overhaul because repeat offenders should not be allowed back out to harm innocent people with their choices to continue to break the law and endanger people. If u continue to break the law after one arrest and the u serve time 4 2nd time well if there is a 3rd time u need to be put away for a very long time so u are not a danger to society. But if u think about it the current system is job security for lawyers bail bonds and judges.
It is unfortunate for the family but this young man is a danger to society and needs to be removed to protect the rest of us. Good job LEOs!!!!
To all the ones below that seem to be COMPLAINING about the LEO’s doing their jobs……..
1} If it was your kin that was the victim or the one that was hit from Clark in the chase…..you wouldn’t be complaining!
2} FACT….it appears that no matter what kind of call our LEO’s handle a majority of you won’t be happy either way!
3} If you think you can do a better job than the LEO’s PLEASE apply for the job.
4} KUDOS to all LEO’s that were involved in this case. Glad to hear that you all got to go back home to your families.
5} Hopefully our justice system will NOT allow Clark to go without some stiff punishment THIS time. Take a look at his record, it’s PUBLIC.
For all of you fussing about all of the law enforcement that responded, you need to review his rap sheet. He has a very extensive history from drug dealing to shooting into dwellings. I know of this family and I for one am very glad he’s off of the street and if you have children you ought to be too. I hope they punish to the fullest extent this time.
My neighbor and I were at the light at the corner of Palafox and Nine Mile. This guy came around in the left turn lane at about 80 mph or higher. Thank God no one was running the red on Nine Mile or starting quick on the green on Pakatox, or there wouldhave been fatalities, either from him or possibly to the three deputies in pursuit. It is a shame that innocent folks and the brave men and women in law enforcement are put in harm’s way because they can’t/ won’t keep this guy in a cage where he belongs.
>>I am just curious as to why the wreck happened at 8am(or just before) at Pine Forest and Longleaf, yet, our schools were not put on lock down until sometime between 10 and 1030???
You have two different incidents confused. There was a wreck about 7:30 a.m. at Pine Forest and Longleaf. It had absolutely nothing to do with the chase:
http://www.northescambia.com/2013/04/no-serious-injuries-in-pine-forest-longleaf-crash
The high speed chase, etc. began about 10 a.m. and ended with a wreck on Longleaf shortly thereafter. That’s when the schools were locked down.
I am just curious as to why the wreck happened at 8am(or just before) at Pine Forest and Longleaf, yet, our schools were not put on lock down until sometime between 10 and 1030???
If he had done nothing wrong, he wouldn’t have been running from the cops. Simple solution. Good job LEOs!!!
>>William! Earlier reports stated 29 and hood!
They did, because that is how the call came into EMS.
William! Earlier reports stated 29 and hood!
Yea, there are a lot of people who does dirt. But to know the truth and still see the Law fail. That is a joke. These Pensacola officers are dead wrong on this chase. Just because someone has a dirty past doesnt mean you hold that over there head for life. And dont be so quick to assume someone has a gun.
>> But I was stuck at the light at hood and 29 and saw the Taurus come through! No accident occurred At that time!
You are right. The accident happened at Hwy 29 and Ensley Street, four blocks away.
Not condoning at all! But I was stuck at the light at hood and 29 and saw the Taurus come through! No accident occurred At that time! Maybe after he passed through the ditch an officer caused one and so forth blamed him!i really don’t know, but I SAW what took place at that intersection! NO WRECK when perp ran red light via the ditch!
It’s amazing how this call can attrack at least 7 deputy cars, even after the arrest, but they have no one available for “lower priority” calls.
Great Job everyone!!! Glad ya’ll got this creep of the road. Hopefully a judge will keep him in jail.
It seems like no matter what ya’ll do people are gonna complain but i’m glad ya’ll got this idiot!!
Rosalin, I realize you do not understand, and that’s ok. That more than likely means you have had a good life. I hope you never face an AK-47 in the hands of a criminal, but Law Enforcement Officers sometimes do. They bring all the help they can get, and for good reason. Good job Deputies.
I was present during that pursuit and there were over 25 state patrol and sheriff dept. cars in that pursuit. One sheriff dept. car almost flipped his car into the circle K parking lot due to going so fast and turning so hard from 9 mile rd. onto pine forest rd. to get to this incident. The adrenalin was so strong from the law officers that I could feel it and my eyes watered up. I did not know at the time, but I really thought it was a bomb threat or robbery or even a stand off, yet I never thought that this many officers were needed for just a chase. However, I am glad to know there are this many on pay roll in case there is a much more important issue at hand in the future.
Good work LEOs. Glad no one else was injured. Hopeful the person that was will be okay.
In and out of State custody 3 times, then gets arrested for a drug incident involving a weapon in 2011 and is back out in 9 months… What a joke.!!!
Lock’em up and throw away the key..