VIDEO: Man Steals & Crashes Car After Battering Woman

Suspect held on no bond

Posted

Palm Coast, FL - A man with a lengthy criminal history is now in the custody of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) after deputies say he battered a woman and stole her car, only to crash it later as he was trying to elude law enforcement.

FCSO says the incident occurred on Friday at a home on Coral Reef Court. Footage obtained from a resident in the neighborhood shows the suspect, 38-year-old Angelo Walsh, approaching a vehicle parked in a driveway. The footage then goes on to show Walsh break into that vehicle and attempt to hotwire it, but to no avail.

After failing to steal that car, Walsh is seen walking down the road towards another driveway where a woman was standing near her vehicle. As Walsh approached the driveway, he struck an oncoming vehicle with a hammer before it drove off. Walsh then approached the woman and demanded the keys to her car. When she refused to hand over her keys Walsh grabbed the woman's arm. She was able to break away but Walsh caught up with her again and was able to steal the keys.

The footage then shows Walsh back out onto the road at a high rate of speed and almost hit another car before he drove across a neighbor's lawn and into their backyard.

Deputies later observed Walsh traveling northbound on Palm Coast Parkway towards Old Kings Road. They attempted a traffic stop, but Walsh ignored their attempts and continued to drive erratically.

During his attempt to flee from deputies, Walsh traveled at speeds up to 70 mph as he swerved in and out of traffic. At one point, Walsh also drove through a hedge at a CVS and at the Lutheran Church. However, his joyride came to an end after Walsh crashed the stolen vehicle into a tree near the Red Roof Inn on Kingswood Drive. He attempted to flee on foot but gave up as soon as he was confronted by deputies.

Medical personnel came by the scene and took Walsh to AdventHealth Palm Coast, where he was medically cleared. Afterwards, deputies arrested Walsh and charged him with battery on a person over 65; carjacking without a firearm or weapon; burglary of a conveyance; aggravated fleeing with injury or damage; criminal mischief; resisting an officer without violence; crash with damage to vehicle or property; grand theft of a motor vehicle; and driving while license suspended. Walsh remains in custody with no bond.

"This is a situation that could have had a much more tragic outcome for either the suspect or the victim," Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly said. "This guy has had so many chances to change his life but has zero respect for the law. I am very thankful that no one was seriously injured during this carjacking."

"Walsh might have been arrested at the Red Roof Inn, but now he can spend some time at the Green Roof Inn where he belongs," added Sheriff Staly.