A 20-year-old motorcyclist was arrested Monday after authorities say he tried to run over a Collier County sheriff’s deputy on Golden Gate Parkway.Sammy Mendez, 4333 20th Place S.W., Golden Gate, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving and resisting arrest.
Reports gave this account:
A CCSO deputy was making a traffic stop in the 5300 block of Golden Gate Parkway around 1:52 p.m. when he saw two motorcycles _ one red, the other blue _ coming toward him at about 60 mph. The deputy walked into Golden Gate Parkway and signaled for the motorcycle drivers to slow down.
The driver of the blue motorcycle pulled over to the side of the road, but the driver of the red motorcycle, Mendez, drove at the deputy and sped up. Mendez picked up speed and drove directly at the deputy, continuing to pick up speed.
The deputy held out his hand and yelled at Mendez to stop, but he kept on going, forcing the deputy back into oncoming traffic to avoid being hit by the red motorcycle.
The deputy barely moved over enough to avoid being hit, reports said.
Mendez passed the deputy at a high rate of speed and weaved in and out of traffic in an aggressive manner along Golden Gate Parkway.
Mendez crashed his motorcycle on the east side of a friend’s house at 3640 25th Avenue Southwest in Golden Gate. Deputies found Mendez hiding in some bushes about 50 feet away from the house.
