An Orlando-based trucker’s tanker rig was the immovable object that put an end to a high-speed chase in Miami yesterday, police say. More than a dozen police cars were chasing a fleeing robbery suspect on I-95 when the pursuit was abruptly ended as the suspect’s SUV slammed into the rear end of the tanker truck. The tractor-trailer accident was enough to jolt the truck — and it crushed the front end of the robbery suspect’s Ford Expedition.

56-year-old Matthew Armstrong was heading back to Central Florida in an Indian River Transport tanker after delivering a shipment in Miami. His wife Patricia was riding in the cab. Just as they crossed the Broward County line at around 11 a.m., they were surprised by the police chase.

According to police, the high-speed chase began because a police officer witnessed the suspect attempting to commit a robbery. The suspect took off in his Ford Expedition, igniting a chase that involved at least twelve police cars and was followed by press helicopters.

The police chase met with an abrupt end when the suspect rammed his SUV into the transport truck near the Hallandale Beach Boulevard on I-95. Police and press reports described the truck accident as causing the SUV to slam to an immediate stop when it encountered the heavy, slow-moving tanker.
Matthew and Patricia Armstrong were injured in the wreck but were treated at a local hospital and released later that afternoon. The robbery suspect was also injured in the commercial truck accident, although it is unclear how serious his injuries may be.

Truck Driver a Bit of a Hero for Inadvertently Assisting With Arrest

It isn’t every day that a commercial trucker helps the police collar a suspect, and certainly not in this unusual way. Armstrong has worked for about 3-1/2 years for Indian River Transport, a large trucking company based in Winter Haven.
“We just happened to be in the same place at the same time,” said Buck Merritt, safety director for Indian River Transport, when asked about the truck accident that ended the police chase.

As for Armstrong? “We’re in the process of getting him back to Central Florida,” Merritt said. “He’ll have a couple of days off.”

Source: Orlando Sentinel, “Orlando trucker survives ramming by South Florida robbery suspect,” Henry Pierson Curtis, November 18, 2010