St. Louis man arrested in Florida Keys after golf cart chase

A Missouri man led security officers on a chase while driving a golf cart at a Florida Keys resort Monday, then growled like a dog and rubbed his face in broken glass while he fought with authorities, the Miami Herald reported.

>> Read more trending news

Parks Thornton Terry, 32, of St. Louis, is being held in the Monroe County Jail on charges of felony battery on a law enforcement officer or first responder, felony fleeing and eluding police, felony resisting arrest and felony criminal mischief, and driving under the influence, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

According to a Sheriff's Office arrest report, Terry was passed out in a red golf cart around 5 a.m. Monday when an Ocean Reef Club public safety officer woke him up, the Herald reported. When the officer asked Terry to get out of the golf cart, he drove off, "weaving all over the road," Deputy Brandon White wrote in his report.
Monroe County deputies responded to the scene, and according to White's report, Terry led authorities on a chase through the neighborhood while giving a thumbs-up sign, the Post-Dispatch reported. He then made an obscene gesture with his hand and yelled obscenities before arriving at the home of his mother, Martha Wolfner, 63, and locking himself inside, the Herald reported.

White smashed out a window with his baton and tried reaching inside to unlock the door, but “Wolfner held the door locked and Parks charged the door,” White wrote.

White smashed a window with his baton and used a stun gun on Terry several times, the newspaper reported. As five officials attempted to subdue Terry, he "growled like a dog" and "kept rubbing his face in the broken glass on the floor," according to the Herald, which cited White's report.

Terry fought with deputies as he was put in a patrol car and kicked the back door, breaking the door handle and the window switch, the newspaper reported.

Deputies took Terry to a hospital to examine his claims of a dislocated shoulder, the Post-Dispatch reported. He was taken to jail after doctors cleared him.

Wolfner has not been arrested, the Herald reported.

About the Author