By Adam Beasley
The Miamia Herald
MIAMI — A suspect fleeing police in a carjacked Infiniti slammed into a Mazda, crashed into a palm tree and then took off on foot -- before being arrested by a motorcycle officer who tackled him linebacker style, Hollywood police said.
It happened Monday morning near Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.
The wild turn of events began at 7 a.m. in the 4300 block of North Hills Drive when Myron Stayman was preparing to get into his Infiniti, said Sgt. Manny Marino and Stayman’s wife, Debbie. An armed carjacker jumped out of a black Honda Accord and commandeered the car, leaving Stayman in front of his million-dollar home.
The stolen Infiniti and the Accord took off together.
Within a matter of minutes, the two cars were spotted on Johnson Street, according to police. A pursuit began. The Accord and the Infiniti split off in different directions, with police cruisers following both.
The carjacked Infiniti slammed a Mazda Tribute in front of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, part of the Memorial Regional Hospital complex on Johnson Street. A block later, the Infiniti veered off the road and into a palm tree.
A police officer approached the car to arrest the driver. The palm tree fell on the officer, injuring his hand.
The driver took off running through the neighborhood. Archie Kiagiadakis, a motorcycle officer, saw him and began to pursue. He put the motorcycle down and tackled the man football style, placing him under arrest.
Police said they recovered a gun from the Infiniti.
Stayman, 69, was not hurt in the carjacking. He appeared at the police station about 90 minutes later; his wife recovered his golf clubs and other possessions from the car, which was towed away.
The black Honda gave police the slip when officers slowed down in a school zone.
Hours earlier, in the same neighborhood, a man walking down Johnson Street was confronted by two gunmen. The man escaped their clutches by running away and jumping into the back of a pickup truck.
The gunmen fired multiple times at the pickup.
It was not immediately known if that incident and the carjacking might have been connected.
Stayman has served as a vice president of both Merrill Lynch and the Jewish Family Service of Greater Miami.
By 10 a.m., he was back home, but declined an interview request.
''He’s just too shaken up,’' Debbie Stayman said.
Copyright 2008 The Miamia Herald