A man who stole a car at gunpoint was arrested this Tuesday after spending hours barricaded in the vehicle on I-95, after an intense police chase in Broward and Miami-Dade.
The incident produced a large police mobilization in the area and traffic chaos, and forced the closure of the highway at Miami Gardens Drive for several hours in the morning.
The thief was identified as Darnell Paul27 years old and with a long criminal history.
On Monday, shortly after 11:50 p.m., he stole a car from an acquaintance near the 2700 block of South State Road 7, in the Broward County city of West Park.
Gerdy St. Louis, spokesperson for the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), told Local 10 that an alert was issued to locate the vehicle.
Once found, a chase ensued through Broward and Miami-Dade counties that ended at 3:00 a.m., when Paul crashed the car into the southbound Interstate 95 exit ramp at Miami Gardens Drive.
He then decided to barricade himself inside the car while the agents tried to convince him to give up and get out.
He finally agreed to do it, around 9:00 am.
Paul was arrested and faces charges in Broward of armed carjacking, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and attempted murder, in addition to other charges in Miami-Dade.
Agents from the BSO and the Miami-Dade Police (MDPD) participated in the operation.
Authorities closed several lanes to traffic on the southbound lanes of I-95 at Ives Dairy Road during the incident and subsequent investigation.
MDPD announced on its Twitter account that it was closing the I-95 SB exit to Miami Gardens Drive and the accesses to I-95 SB from Miami Gardens Drive, and asked drivers to look for alternate routes.
According to NBC MiamiPaul has a long arrest record that began in 2015 in Broward, and includes a two-year prison sentence in 2022 on charges of robbery, possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm, and a robbery accusation at gunpoint in January in the city of Miramar.
