Car flips into ditch after Pinellas man with long driving record flees officers, police say

A Pinellas Park man with a long history of driving infractions was arrested Wednesday after he drove away from police officers and hit another vehicle that flipped into a ditch, police said.

Danny Luis Perez, 31, was arrested on multiple charges after the incident, which occurred about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of 62nd Street and 62nd Avenue in Pinellas Park.

Arrest reports state that an officer tried to pull Perez’s vehicle over, but that Perez took off and ran a red light. He struck another vehicle, causing it to “flip over and roll into a ditch, leaving the victim trapped in the vehicle,” reports state. Information about potential injuries was not included in arrest affidavits.

Police said Perez ran away from that scene. He was later found by a police dog hiding under a trailer, police said.

Police noted that Perez showed signs of being impaired.

He is facing charges of aggravated fleeing police causing injury, DUI with property damage or injury, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a crash and driving with a suspended license.

Perez also had been wanted on a domestic battery charge after he was accused of punching a woman in the face on Jan. 25, records show. Police searched for him after the incident but could not find him, records show.

Bail on those charges was set at $25,650, and Perez remained at the Pinellas County jail Saturday. An assistant public defender has been appointed to represent him and has entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Police noted in arrest reports that Perez’s driver’s license has been suspended since 2008 and that he has been convicted five times for driving with a suspended license since then. Court records show he actually has been arrested as many as 10 times for driving with a suspended license or driving without a valid license.

He also has been arrested five times for fleeing police, records show.