Investigators of the St. Lucie County Sheriffs Office have identified and questioned the third occupant of the car from which gunshots were fired at pursuing Sheriffs deputies Wednesday night, according to Sheriff Ken J. Mascara. Wednesday night, we arrested Javan Michael Best, 28, the driver of the 2005 Toyota Avalon, and passenger Christopher Jerome Hernandez, 28, who fired gunshots at deputies, Sheriff Mascara said. On Friday, we questioned the third man in the car. All three are from Fort Pierce. We are continuing to investigate all aspects of this case to determine if additional charges are appropriate. The Sheriff said: Wednesday night, with the arrest of Best and Hernandez, we anticipated one of them could be the shooter. It was only after thorough investigation that we confirmed Hernandez as the one who fired gunshots at our deputies. Best and Hernandez are both charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer. In addition, Best is charged with fleeing and eluding police officers at a high rate of speed. Both men remain confined at the St. Lucie County jail. Bests bond is $520,000. Hernandezs bond is $500,000. Uniformed deputies in a marked Sheriffs Office patrol car tried to stop the Toyota for speeding on Canal Terrace around 8 Wednesday night. Best sped away, running stop signs and careening over the curb several times. At North 14th Street and Orange Avenue, the Toyota stopped, and Hernandez fired several gunshots at the pursuing deputies, who returned fire. The Toyota finally stopped at North 10th Street and Delaware Avenue, where another pursuing deputy used his squad car to block the Toyota to keep it from leaving. Best was in the drivers seat and was arrested. Hernandez, who had jumped out of the car, was arrested on the front porch of 811 Boston Ave. a few minutes later. A loaded Ruger .45-caliber pistol was found on the roof of 903 Boston Ave. Later, investigators determined the gun was stolen July 2011 in Port St. Lucie.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 18:46:39 +0000
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