A car crash in Cape Coral left a police officer seriously injured, a police cruiser totaled, a man in jail for growing marijuana and another man charged with causing the crash Thursday afternoon.
Officer Stephen Chase was responding to a call where the suspect of a possible burglary was fleeing on foot at approximately 1:17 p.m. when the accident occurred, said city spokesperson Connie Barron.
Chase, 24, was in fair condition at Lee Memorial Hospital Friday morning after undergoing surgery for his injuries, Barron said.
Chase was driving northbound on Northeast 7th Place behind a Jeep Liberty, driven by Shawn Angus, 33, of Cape Coral, with his lights and sirens activated, according to an accident report released Friday by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Angus attempted to turn left onto Northeast 27th Terrace at the same time Chase attempted to pass on the left of Angus’s vehicle, the report states. The right front of the police patrol car struck the left front of the Jeep, causing the police car to veer onto the west shoulder and collide with several culverts, said FHP troopers.
Chase was pinned inside the vehicle and had to be extracted by Fire Rescue with an extrication device, the Jaws of Life, Barron said. He was taken to the Cape Coral Hospital and later to Lee Memorial Hospital.
Angus was taken to the Cape Coral hospital with minor injuries, and was cited by FHP for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.
The call Chase was responding to was a possible burglary at 1528 South Gator Circle, where Luis Miguel Boza, a possible suspect, had fled on foot.
Boza, 33, of Hialeah, was with another male who was cutting wires on the air conditioning unit of the home, according to police reports.
He was apprehended by a K-9 unit after he fled into a nearby canal, reports state.
Boza was charged with two counts of resisting an officer without violence and producing marijuana after police reportedly discovered “what seemed to be a recently harvested marijuana cultivation operation” inside the home, police said.
Inside the home, police reportedly discovered a full-operational hydroponics room in the master bedroom with fans, a CO2 tank, high pressure 1,000 watt bulbs, buckets of fertilizer, air handlers, electric panels, portable air conditioner units, an irrigation system and 41 root systems.
Boza’s wallet, which contained his driver’s license and several credit cards, was located inside the home, reports state.
He also was in possession of a keys to the marijuana grow room, police said.
The Investigative Services Bureau will conduct a followup investigation into a possible grand theft.
Boza suffered dog bite injuries when he was apprehended and was taken to the Cape Coral Hospital to be treated.
When medically cleared, he would be taken to the Lee County Jail, the police report states.