Wild West Palm Beach car chase leaves three injured, two men arrested

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Two men accused of leading police officers on a car chase and causing a crash that injured three people were arrested late Saturday night on various charges.

Police charged the vehicle's driver, Willie Frank Boone, 28, of West Palm Beach, with fleeing and eluding, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, resisting an officer without violence and driving with a suspended license. His passenger, Gabriel James Butler, 20, of West Palm Beach, was charged with resisting without violence.

According to a probable cause affidavit, a city police officer was responding to a call just before midnight at St. Mary's Medical Center when the officer observed a black Chevy Impala run a stop sign at 44th Street and Windsor Avenue.

The car turned onto northbound Windsor and proceeded to run a stop sign at Windsor and 45th Street, the affidavit said. The vehicle headed onto northbound Interstate 95 and traveled to the Blue Heron Boulevard exit.

It then headed east on Blue Heron, then south on North Congress Avenue in the northbound lanes of traffic, the affidavit stated. It then continued east on West 13th Street, ignoring various stop signs before colliding with a vehicle that was traveling southbound on Australian Avenue, police said.

The crash caused that vehicle to roll over and its three occupants were transported to St. Mary's.

Police said that Boone eventually drove to a residence in the 1100 block of West 10th Sreet, where he and Butler both got out of the vehicle. Butler threw himself to the ground, but refused to comply with orders, the affidavit stated.

Boone ran from the scene, but was later caught.

Butler was released Sunday on his own recognizance, jail records indicated. Boone remained in custody late Monday night, according to jail records.