Bell man arrested in Alachua for fleeing and resisting officers

Staff report

ALACHUA, Fla. – Micah Timothy-Wynter Ellsworth, 48, of Bell, was arrested early this morning after allegedly fleeing from an officer and then resisting officers’ attempts to get him out of his truck.

At about 10:55 p.m. on February 21, the Alachua Police Department (APD) received a call about a vehicle that was stationary in the roadway in the 14400 block of NW 154th Terrace. All APD units were responding to another incident, so a High Springs Police Department (HSPD) officer responded under mutual aid assistance.

The HSPD officer reported that when he arrived at 11:22 p.m., he found a red pickup truck on the side of the roadway, running, with its brake lights on and a white male slumped over in the driver’s seat with his foot on the brake. When the officer’s body-worn camera beeped, the driver woke up, and the officer reported smelling a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage as the driver spoke.

The officer reported that he asked the driver to get out of the vehicle, and the driver refused and placed the vehicle in Drive. The officer told him to put the vehicle in Park, but the driver reportedly refused, so the officer reached into the truck and placed it in Park; he tried to take the keys from the ignition but did not locate the keys.

The driver allegedly placed the truck in Drive again and drove away, spinning his wheels. The officer pursued with his lights and siren active, and the truck drove farther down the road and pulled into a fenced yard with an open driveway. The officer placed his vehicle at the entrance of the driveway to keep the truck from leaving and waited for backup.

An APD K-9 officer responded and reported that he found Ellsworth sitting in his truck, facing the HSPD officer’s patrol vehicle. The APD officer reported that he told Ellsworth to get out of the truck, but Ellsworth responded with an expletive and showed the officer his middle finger. The APD officer placed his patrol vehicle behind the truck, and he reported that Ellsworth tried to drive around the patrol vehicles that were attempting to box him in. Ellsworth was eventually removed from the truck by law enforcement and transported to a located emergency room for medical clearance before being booked into the jail.

Ellsworth has been charged with fleeing with lights and sirens active, resisting an officer without violence, and driving without a valid license with a previous conviction. Ellsworth has five misdemeanor convictions in Alachua County (non-violent) prior to 2002, and he has three felony convictions (one violent) and five misdemeanor convictions (one violent) in Gilchrist County. Judge James Colaw set bail at $60,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.