Former Polk County sheriff’s deputy Jakob Kite appears in a mug shot. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
A Florida man lost his job as a member of law enforcement after allegedly leading his then-fellow deputies on an extremely high-speed chase over the weekend, according to a local sheriff’s office.
Jakob Kite, 22, stands accused of a litany of crimes over the Sept. 4 incident including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting with violence, resisting without violence, fleeing to elude, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage, reckless driving, and driving under the influence, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Kite was also issued four different speeding tickets, based on various speed zones, and two separate citations for running two stop signs.
A deputy performing traffic enforcement duties first clocked a Subaru Impreza traveling south on Highway 98 towards Bartow doing 105 mph in a 60 mph zone, the sheriff’s office said.
But the driver of the Impreza was allegedly just getting started.
Later, another deputy clocked the same car doing a minimum of 114 mph and a maximum of 117 mph using “a laser speed enforcement device,” the PCSO said. It was at that point that deputies began their initial efforts to pull the speeding car over. At first, to no avail.
The Impreza did get to Bartow – turning onto a couple of different streets and then heading north toward Highway 540A, the sheriff’s office said. During the initial pursuit, one deputy clocked the car doing 130 mph in a 45 mph zone “using moving radar.”
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Efforts to haul the fleeing car in using “emergency lights and siren” failed, the PCSO said, as the “driver of the vehicle refused to stop.” After allegedly running a stop sign, the Impreza veered left and struck a concrete median, resulting in some front tire damage, but not yet ending the pursuit, according to the PCSO.
“The vehicle was able to get into the westbound lanes, and at one point swerved towards one of the deputy’s patrol vehicles in an aggressive manner, almost striking his patrol vehicle,” the PCSO alleged in a press release. “The vehicle continued westbound on Hwy 540A, and the deputies initiated a pursuit.”
Eventually, a sheriff’s deputy performed a so-called “PIT maneuver” (Precision Immobilization Technique) to end the chase – which entails another vehicle forcing the fleeing vehicle into an abrupt sideways turn so that the driver of the pursued car loses control.
Kite initially refused to leave his car, the PCSO alleged, and when he later did so, appeared to be intoxicated or otherwise impaired. A test at the PCSO processing center showed that Kite’s breath alcohol level was at 0.035 and 0.034, the sheriff’s office said.
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“This kind of driving and reckless behavior is unacceptable for any responsible citizen, let alone a deputy sheriff,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in the press release. “It is hard to describe how disappointed and angry I am towards Kite’s dangerously stupid behavior. Had he not resigned, he would have been fired. We will absolutely hold him accountable for his criminal conduct. I appreciate and applaud our traffic deputies for doing the right thing and taking Kite into custody.”
In February 2020, the defendant began working as a Polk County detention deputy trainee, the PCSO said. In April 2023, he was promoted to deputy sheriff and assigned to the southwest district. Kite resigned shortly after his arrest on Sunday morning.
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