Palatka man on probation arrested after running from deputies on Newberry Road and at Hunters Crossing

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Derrick Earl Burke, 21, of Palatka, was arrested yesterday after running from deputies near the Quality Inn on Newberry Road and then escaping in the parking lot of an emergency room in the Hunter’s Crossing area.

Click here for ASO’s video of both pursuits.

At about 2:37 p.m. on February 5, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to the Quality Inn (7516 West Newberry Road) after a caller said a woman had run out of her hotel room screaming, “Call 911” because her boyfriend had a gun. The suspect was described as a black man, wearing black, with a pink backpack.

The first deputy to arrive found a man matching that description at the front door of the Quality Inn, activated the lights on his patrol vehicle, and told the suspect to get on the ground. The suspect refused to comply with the deputy’s commands, so the deputy deployed his taser; the taser was not effective, and the man fled on foot. The deputy chased the suspect around the Quality Inn and through the Walgreens parking lot, where the suspect jumped into the retention pond; the suspect tried to flee out of the retention pond enclosure but failed to scale the fence, and the deputy tackled him. The suspect allegedly continued to resist and reached for his waistband before he was handcuffed.

A search of the backpack, incident to arrest, reportedly produced a loaded handgun, a loaded magazine, and a box of ammunition.

The deputy reported that Burke is currently on probation out of Putnam County and is not allowed to possess a firearm under the terms of his probation; however, he is not considered a convicted felon because adjudication of guilt was withheld. Burke has been charged with unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm, tampering with evidence, and resisting without violence.

Burke was transported to the HCA Florida Millhopper Emergency Room (4388 Northwest 53rd Avenue) to be medically cleared because a taser was deployed. Burke’s hands were handcuffed behind his back, and he was being escorted out of the emergency room when he twisted out of a deputy’s control and ran south along NW 43rd Street. The deputy pursued him on foot through the Hunter’s Crossing shopping center parking lot, where he lost sight of Burke. A perimeter was established, and K-9 units began tracking Burke.

Burke was found behind a home in the residential neighborhood south of Hunter’s Crossing Apartments. When he saw the deputy, he allegedly began to flee again and tried to jump a wooden fence, but the deputy pulled him off the fence and took him into custody.

Charges of escape and resisting an officer without violence were added to the previous charges.

Burke has juvenile convictions between 2014 and 2021, one adult felony conviction (violent), and three misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he is on probation and pre-trial diversion on separate cases in Putnam County. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $110,000.

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.