A Cape Coral man was arrested Monday in Fort Myers following a high speed chase with police officers, according to a police report.
James Nelson, 26, of 229 S.E. 23rd Ave., was charged with aggravated battery to cause bodily harm or injury, aggravated battery on a person using a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed firearm, resisting an officer with high speed vehicular pursuit, robbery with a weapon, home invasion with a firearm or other deadly weapon and vehicle grand theft.
According to a report from the Fort Myers Police Department, officers spotted a gray, four-door Pontiac traveling southbound on Fowler Street just after 3 a.m. Monday.
The vehicle turned south onto Cleveland Avenue, after which the officers attempted to pull it over. The driver refused to stop, continuing southbound at high speeds on Cleveland, then turning west on Cypress Drive where officers lost sight of the vehicle, the report states.
Police found the Pontiac in a ditch at the intersection of Cypress and Fifth Avenue. According to the report, a woman was in the passenger seat and a loaded, Smith and Wesson 9 mm pistol was in the grass next to the vehicle on the driver’s side.
Officer pursued a black man, later identified as James Nelson, on foot but eventually lost him.
During an interview at the Fort Myers Police Department, the female passenger reportedly told officers that the Pontiac was hers, and that she had asked Nelson to drive following a party at an apartment.
The woman, Nelson and another man left the party together. After dropping off the second man at an apartment complex, she and Nelson were in route to another apartment complex when the pursuit occurred, the report states.
Police eventually located Nelson hiding in a shower at an apartment at 2278 Central Ave., where he was arrested and charged.
According to police reports, Nelson was wanted on warrants prior to Monday’s pursuit in connection to a shooting and store robbery in Fort Myers on July 18 and a home invasion robbery in Fort Myers on July 23.
He is currently in custody at the Lee County Jail.