A 22-year-old Deltona man was in custody Monday night charged with battery on a law enforcement office following a traffic investigation that turned physical, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Rhett Andrew Dickerson, 22, was the subject of an investigation into a hit-and-run accident reported just before 7 p.m., Laura Williams, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, said in a news release late Monday. A male victim reported his vehicle was hit by a truck at the intersection of East Normandy and Saxon boulevards in Deltona. The victim said there were no injuries and the truck left the scene and he followed it.
Williams said the victim reportedly told the suspect driver to stop and the victim took a photo of the suspect vehicle's license plate. The investigation then led to a home in the 1000 block of Parnell Court where a Volusia sheriff's deputy was investigating the accident.
The deputy was in the process of arresting Dickerson for leaving the scene of the accident, she said. That's when the suspect failed to follow commands, slipped out of his shirt and the deputy's grasp. Williams said Dickerson hit the deputy in the face, injuring his left eye, and fled at 7:37 p.m.
The sheriff's Air 1 helicopter and K-9 officers searched for Dickerson, Williams said. He was found hiding in a house at 1079 Parnell Court and was eventually coaxed into giving himself up just before 9 p.m.
She said Medina suffered a laceration under his left eye and the eye was swollen but the deputy was alert and in good spirits. He was being treated for his injuries at Saxon Medical Center in Deltona.
Dickerson was being charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and was in the process of being booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail, Williams said.