A drive home turned into a surreal, high-stakes encounter for a Sarasota man early Sunday morning.
Jacob Derocher, who had just left his twin sister’s wedding, was stopped at a red light near a RaceTrac gas station when he says he was suddenly rear-ended by another driver.
“I had no idea anyone was even near me,” Derocher said. “Then all of a sudden, I get smacked really hard from behind.”
Derocher said the driver who hit him, appearing disoriented, suddenly sped off into the RaceTrac parking lot. Derocher followed him.
“I get out of the car, walk up to his window, and start banging on it,” he recalled. “He looked like he was spazzing out, like it was crazy. And, he started redlining his engine.”
Realizing the driver was heavily intoxicated, Derocher quickly snapped photos of the license plate and called the police. What followed was a dramatic scene — officers arriving, the suspect attempting to evade arrest, and a chaotic takedown caught on video.
"He got out of his car. And I'm like, 'sit down, sit down,' because I knew he was drunk at that time, and he just flicked me off and started skipping in the parking lot to try to go inside the RaceTrac," Derocher said. “He tried to escape the cops. He slammed into a car, slammed into a pole, slammed into me — then got ripped out of his vehicle."
Despite the damage to his car, Derocher remained composed.
“Honestly, I was watching it unfold like I was in a movie," he said. "I'm very calm in high-stress situations. I do mortgages for a living, so you have to be, right? So it's just something that's instilled in me, and I just knew me recording it would be really, really good, and people would love to see it."
As for covering the damages, Derocher says the suspect’s insurance will only cover up to $25,000 — far from what’s needed. He’s currently in talks with attorneys to pursue further action.
NBC2 reached out to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office to learn whether this was a DUI crash.