A 30-year-old Ocala man was arrested March 19 after Marion County deputies said he refused to let a woman out of his car, then fled from law enforcement until crashing on Southeast 25th Avenue in Ocala.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were initially responding to a false imprisonment call tied to a silver Chevrolet sedan. While they were en route, dispatch advised that the victim was inside the moving vehicle as it traveled north on U.S. 441 and later east on East Silver Springs Boulevard.
The affidavit states that the Ocala Police Department located the vehicle near East Silver Springs Boulevard and Northeast 25th Avenue. A pursuit was then initiated as the car traveled south on Southeast 25th Avenue with agency lights and sirens active, according to the report. Deputies said the vehicle later crashed at a dead end in the 2400 block of Southeast 25th Avenue, where the driver was detained and identified as Joseph Michael Lindeman.
Investigators said the victim told deputies Lindeman, who she said is the father of her child, had been supposed to drive her home. According to the report, she said he turned around before reaching her address and began accusing her of “setting him up” and trying to “pin it on him.” The victim told deputies Lindeman was acting strangely and not making sense, and said he had been drinking and was “buzzed,” according to the affidavit.
The victim told deputies she repeatedly asked to be let out of the vehicle, but Lindeman would not stop, according to the report. Investigators wrote that she tried to open the passenger-side door while the car was moving, but said Lindeman would speed up, making it unsafe for her to get out. The affidavit states the victim said the drive had been fine until she asked to go home, which upset him because he wanted her to come back to him. The report states the two are separated but maintain an on-and-off relationship.
Deputies later interviewed Lindeman at AdventHealth after reading him his Miranda rights, according to the affidavit. Investigators wrote that Lindeman said he had been driving the victim home after spending time with her at a motel and acknowledged that she asked multiple times to be let out of the car. According to the report, Lindeman said he did not let her out because he “was not thinking.” He also acknowledged that he saw police lights behind him and knew he was supposed to stop, but said he was frightened and did not stop until the vehicle crashed, according to the affidavit.
Lindeman was charged with false imprisonment and fleeing and eluding law enforcement with lights and sirens active. Jail records listed no bond.
