GOLDEN BEACH, Fla. – A police investigation had a large area of busy A1A shut down from south of Hallandale Beach Boulevard to the William Lehman Causeway for hours Monday after a chase ended in the city of Golden Beach.
According to the Hallandale Police Department, officers were called to a disturbance in the 1800 block of South Ocean Drive around 7 a.m.
Cellphone video captures the man, later identified as Walter Martin, stumbling around the parking lot at the Martinique condominiums at 1893 South Ocean. Witnesses who heard the commotion quickly ran outside when they heard screaming. They told Local 10 the man was thrown from a second story balcony during a fight at the condominium.
In the video, the man looks disoriented as he wanders the parking lot. Then he spots a car driving out of a parking space and hops on top of it as it leaves the lot. The man jumps off the car close to a block away and walks up to a valet station at 1945 Ocean Drive. After fighting with the valet, he stole a gray SUV. That’s when police began a chase down A1A into Golden Beach.
(See the cell phone video)
Police caught up with the driver southbound on South Ocean Drive, where he was driving erratically. Officers attempted to stop the gray SUV when, according to police, the driver struck an officer with the car. The officer fired several shots. Police said Martin was not hit by gunfire. He then tried to cross over a median in the road as he began to travel northbound in the southbound lane. When the car became stuck, the naked man fled the vehicle. Police soon apprehended him.
Two officers were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. The officers have since been released.
The suspect was also admitted to a hospital and, upon his release, will be taken to jail. Martin also suffered non-life-threatening injuries.