Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Yesterday morning, 19-year-old Michael Thomas Williamson from Trenton was taken into custody after leading police on a nearly three-mile chase along NW 8th Avenue on a motorcycle. He was reportedly apprehended when an officer pulled him off his bike at a stoplight.
The incident began around 7:50 a.m. on June 25, when a Gainesville Police Department officer observed a blue motorcycle committing several traffic violations while driving eastbound on NW 8th Avenue, just west of NW 34th Street.
The officer, who was in an unmarked vehicle, followed the motorcycle and activated the car’s lights. The rider, later identified as Williamson, responded by accelerating rapidly eastward. Concerned about public safety, the officer deactivated the lights but continued following eastbound.
The officer reported that the motorcycle stopped at a red light at the intersection of NW 8th Avenue and NW 22nd Street, and the officer was only five or six cars behind him; he reported that Williamson looked back at him multiple times.
The motorcycle again stopped at a red light at NW 6th Street; when the officer pulled up behind him, Williamson allegedly tried to flee again by “aggressively” trying to put the motorcycle into gear and maneuver it between other vehicles. The officer reportedly got out of his vehicle and grabbed Williamson, pulling him off his motorcycle and arresting him.
Post Miranda, Williamson reportedly said he saw the lights on the officer’s car, knew an officer was trying to pull him over, and fled.
Williamson has been charged with attempting to elude a police officer, a felony. He has no criminal history, and Judge Meshon Rawls ordered him released on his own recognizance.
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.
