ORLANDO, Fla. July 4 2017 – A man who was kicked out of a downtown Orlando, Florida, bar early Monday beat a security guard, carjacked a limousine driver, drove against traffic, backed up into an unmarked police truck and crashed into a planter, the Orlando Police Department said.

The man, whose identity hasn’t been released, seemed to be under the influence “of something” when he was kicked out of Bullitt Bar on East Pine Street near South Court Avenue, Orlando police Lt. Jonathan Bigelow said.

The man started walking toward The Plaza, beat a security guard who approached him and ran away, Bigelow said.

Police said the man opened the driver’s door of a Ford Excursion limousine parked outside Gitto’s Pizza, pulled out the driver, hopped into the driver’s seat and drove against traffic on East Pine Street.

The limo driver, whose face was lacerated during the struggle, flagged down officers in an unmarked patrol truck shortly after 1:30 a.m. to notify them of what happened, investigators said.

The officers found the limo, which was stopped in traffic facing the right direction on East Pine Street east of South Orange Avenue, and they pulled up behind it, police said.

Investigators said the man put the vehicle in reverse, crashed into the police truck, drove around a vehicle that was stopped in front of the limo and drove onto a sidewalk.

 

“It is (believed) the suspect was just trying to get out of the area quickly,” Bigelow said. “And in doing so, (he) backed up to create distance from the vehicle stopped in front of him in order to drive around it when it impacted the unmarked truck.”

The man plowed into a tree in a concrete planter about 50 feet from the crash scene, causing minor damage to the City Arts Factory building, police said.

“A passerby immediately rushed over to the suspect vehicle and assisted with apprehending the suspect as officers were approaching the suspect vehicle,” Bigelow said.

The incident remains under investigation.

WFTV

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