Florida man wanted in homicide dies in crash while fleeing police
A man wanted for homicide has died after police say he crashed while fleeing a traffic stop. Port Orange police say they tried to conduct a traffic stop for Montrail Johnson just after midnight on Thursday at Nova Road and Madeline Avenue. They say that’s when Johnson fled in his blue Honda into South Daytona and eventually crashed in the parking lot of John’s Appliance on Beville Road.
PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A 21-year-old died on Thursday after he crashed a car he was driving while attempting to flee from Port Orange Police Officers, according to investigators.
An officer said he observed Montrail Johnson driving a Honda around 12:02 a.m. with tints darker than what was allowed by Florida state law. An officer said when he stopped Johnson, he told him that his girlfriend had recently purchased the car with the tint was already on it.
According to investigators, when the officer ran Montrail’s identification card through a computer, it showed he had an active warrant out of Alachua County in reference to a homicide. The officer said he asked Montrail to put his hands out of the window and he complied, but Montrail allegedly reached back into the car, put the car in drive and fled northbound on Nova Road.Â
As officers pursued Montrail, he reportedly entered into an active traffic homicide investigation that was being investigated by South Daytona Police. Officers said Montrail continued driving through the scene where he struck a motorcycle that belonged to the victim involved in the alleged traffic homicide and almost struck several officers that were investigating the crash.Â
Around 12:13 a.m., Daytona Beach Police were flagged down on Nova Road just south of Beville Road in reference to a crash. They saw a man outside a car who had suffered severe trauma and was not breathing. Â Port Orange Police responded to the scene identifying Montrail as the crash victim. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was died.Â
When employees of a nearby business clocked-in on Thursday morning, they noticed some debris in a loading bay. They first thought it was from one of their machines that was perhaps broken, but it wasn’t until later that they that learned there had been a deadly crash. Footage from the store’s security cameras captured the incident just a few minutes after midnight.
John Hinton, one of the owners of the shop, said he often sees crashes on the cameras. “This one was more dramatic than usual, tragic thing,” he said. “We’ve had situations in the past and other incidents tapping out on the road.”