FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A Flagler County Sheriff’s Office detective has been suspended without pay after the agency says he was arrested for trying to flee a law enforcement officer in neighboring Volusia County.
The incident happened early Thursday on U.S. 1 in Ormond Beach.
Flagler sheriff’s officials said Detective Ardit Coma was in an unmarked assigned agency vehicle and on his way to work when a police officer clocked him driving at 88 mph in a 55-mph zone.
According to the Ormond Beach police report, Coma refused to pull over despite the officer running lights and sirens on his marked police vehicle. Police say Coma then switched lanes and accelerated around traffic.
That’s when the officer said he alerted other officers in the area, who deployed Stop Sticks. They say Coma drove around the Stop Sticks and stopped in a nearby turn lane.
According to the report, Coma asked officers what was going on, and when an officer told him he was under arrest for fleeing and eluding, his response was to laugh and say, “When did that happen?”
Coma also allegedly told police he was not aware that the officer was behind him and trying to stop him, even though the officer had emergency lights and sirens on and other vehicles yielded to the officer.
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The sheriff’s office said Coma will remain suspended until a criminal case and an internal investigation have been completed.
Coma has been with the sheriff’s office since June 2023 and serves in the major case unit.
Check back for updates.