Seat Belt Shenanigans Lead to High-Speed Hijinks in the Shores
A high-speed chase in Silver Springs Shores added another chapter to the colorful driving history of Robert Christopher Bradley, better known to his acquaintances—and now law enforcement—as “Taz.”
The escapade began when a patrol officer spotted Bradley’s blue single-cab pickup truck cruising through the intersection of Cedar Radial and Maricamp Road. The scene inside the cab was peculiar, to say the least: two passengers stacked on top of each other in the front seat, with the top passenger’s head brushing the ceiling and none of them wearing seat belts.
The officer followed the vehicle into a nearby 7-Eleven parking lot, where the occupants seemed to sense the heat. The two passengers quickly bailed out of the truck, leaving Taz to his own devices. Rather than comply with the traffic stop, Bradley floored it, dramatically fishtailing and heading east on Maricamp Road against traffic.
The officer, noting heavy traffic and agency pursuit policy, disengaged after Bradley narrowly avoided colliding with other cars. Back at the convenience store, the two passengers, who identified themselves as Brandi Howard and Emmett Arnold, claimed they had only recently met Bradley and knew him solely by his nickname. They had urged him to stop when they realized police were in pursuit and opted to exit his vehicle as soon as he gave them the chance.
Further investigation revealed that Bradley’s real name and “Taz” persona came with a well-documented track record. The Alabama native’s driver’s license has been suspended since 2004, and his resume includes multiple prior convictions for driving while suspended, as well as fleeing and eluding law enforcement. His criminal history also includes several felony convictions.
Bradley now faces charges of fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer and driving with a suspended or revoked license for the third—or perhaps more aptly, the umpteenth—time. For Taz, this latest run-in with the law might just be another pit stop in his long and winding road.
