A 24-year-old Boca Raton man who claimed to have owned a sport motorcycle for all of one day eluded five deputies at speeds of up to 100 mph Sunday before crashing into a car in the Florida Keys, police say.
Bruno Rochae Melo sustained cuts and bruises. On Monday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office was still in discussions with the State Attorney’s Office to determine what charges will be filed against Melo in an arrest warrant.
Deputy James Hager of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office was working a traffic stop at mile marker 94 in Key Largo when three people on motorcycles heading southwest whizzed past him at roughly 100 mph. Hager alerted other officers on road patrol to watch for the sport motorcycles.
Not far away, another deputy reported seeing two of the motorcyclists running a red light. Two more deputies spotted the motorcyclists using the center lane and shoulder as driving lanes as well as passing vehicles that had stopped at intersections around mile marker 90.
And then another deputy, this one in Islamorada, reported that two motorcyclists were illegally passing vehicles there. The deputies all reported a chase was called off because of the danger to others on the road.
Just before noon, Hager reported he again saw two of the motorcyclists, this time heading north. Hager attempted to get them to pull over around mile marker 105 when one of the motorcyclists accelerated even faster, and the second motorcyclist, Melo, pulled off the road, almost coming to a complete stop before gunning it again and racing up the highway.
Hager wrote that he believed Melo was going at least 70 mph when he started to lose sight of the young man as he crashed into the rear of a motorist further up U.S. 1.
Melo was wearing a helmet, jeans and T-shirt. The bike was heavily damaged. Reports say Melo told Hager he just got the bike on Saturday through the title does not indicate a sale date.
The other two motorcyclists eluded police.
Adam Linhardt, a spokesman for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, said the the Keys has seen a spike in the number of young men from South Florida travelling at dangerously high speeds along U.S. 1 on sport motorcycles.
“It’s always been an issue,” Linhardt said. “But it seems like in the last several months we are seeing more and more of it.”
Eileen Kelley can be reached at 954-359-4543 or ekelley@sunsentinel.com
