Pictured above: Erwin Durieux and Luis Alfredo Santiago Perez III
Haines City, Florida – Two men have been arrested for Attempted 1st Degree Murder & 1 man arrested for resisting arrest in an incident on 5/25/2019. According to arrest affidavits Luis Alfredo Santiago Perez III, DOB 11/30/99 & Erwin Durieux, DOB 9/21/95, are facing attempted murder charges after Perez leaned out of the car Durieux was driving & fired several shots at an unmarked police car with 3 Haines City Police Officers in it. A third suspect, Gabriel Angel Rivera De Jesus DOB 02/29/2000, was arrested for resisting arrest. All three men are listed as living in Kissimmee.
Here is an excerpt of the arrest affidavit: “On 05/25/19, at approximately 1535 hours, Haines City Police Officers Robert Bryant, Brad Webster, and Katherine Prue were in the Haines City, Florida area looking for a suspect in a recent robbery. The officers were driving an unmarked Nissan SUV. While on Navel Circle in Haines City, the officers approached a cul-de-sac and observed a white Dodge Charger following behind them. As the officers were proceeding around the cul-de-sac, the white Charger looped in front of them. At this point the officers were behind the white Charger. As the white Charger approached the intersection of Navel Circle and Valencia Avenue, it failed to stop at a stop sign. The white Charger proceeded west on Valencia Avenue and failed to stop at a stop sign located at the intersection of Valencia Avenue and 12th Street North. Officer Bryant called for a marked police unit to respond to the area to conduct a traffic stop on the white Charger that was occupied by three Hispanic males. While waiting for a marked police unit to arrive in the area, the officers followed the white Charger northbound on North 10th Street, in the unmarked Nissan. The white charger proceeded North on North 10th Street at the intersection of Bates Road. Once north of Bates Road, the front passenger, identified as, Luis Santiago Perez III, leaned out of the front passenger’s side window and pointed a handgun at the officers following in the Nissan. Santiago Perez III then fired several rounds at the officers in the Nissan. When the shots began the officers were approximately three to four car lengths behind the white Charger.
The white Charger approached Davenport Boulevard, northbound on North 10th Street, Davenport, and proceeded East towards Highway 17/92 North. The white Charger was turning south on Highway 17/92 North, when Officer Brad Webster attempted to use a PIT maneuver on the Charger to stop it. This maneuver did not work and the white Charger proceeded south on Highway 17/92 North. As the Charger approached the intersection of Highway 17/92 North and Bates Road, other Haines City Police Officers were near the intersection with emergency equipment activated on marked patrol units. The white Charger came to a stop and the three males inside were taken into custody. The driver was identified as suspect, Erwin Durieux. The front passenger was Santiago Perez III and the backseat passenger was identified as, Angel Gabriel Rivera Dejesus.
When the three occupants were taken into custody, a loaded FNG semi-automatic 9mm handgun was found in a backpack Santiago Perez III had on his back. A Glock 17, 9mm semi -automatic handgun, was observed in plain view on the front passenger’s floorboard.
During a post Miranda interview with Santiago Perez III, he admitted to leaning out the window of the white Charger and firing at the Nissan that was following them.
The three Haines City Police Officers reported that the suspect, Erwin Durieux, was driving erratic, not stopping at stop signs and passing other vehicles in a no passing zone while they were following the white Charger. The suspect drove the white charger that Santiago Perez III was shooting from. The suspect facilitated Santiago Perez III’s actions as a principle to the shooting by driving the vehicle Santiago Perez III shot from. During a post Miranda Interview with the suspect, he said he did not know who was following him. The suspect made no attempt to call law enforcement to report an unknown vehicle was following him.”
No officers we injured in the shooting and the 3 suspects were transported to Polk County Jail.
