Victim says suspect broke into home, stole two cars before 45-mile cross-county chase

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. —

The video of a high-speed chase across the Gulf Coast is dramatic, but the homeowner at the center of the case says what happened before deputies ever spotted the stolen SUV is even more unsettling.

John, who lives in the Regent Park neighborhood in Collier County, says the suspect, Michael Sink, stole not one but two vehicles from his home, all while he and his wife were asleep inside.

Deputies say early Friday morning, Sink stole a black Hyundai SUV from Regent Circle. About two hours later, deputies located the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but Sink fled.

Florida Highway Patrol joined the pursuit, with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office helicopter tracking the SUV from the air. Deputies say the chase stretched 45 miles along I-75 from Collier County into Lee County.

Near the end of the pursuit, the SUV clipped the back of a patrol car. Moments later, troopers used a PIT maneuver to spin the vehicle to a stop in Lee County, just short of the Charlotte County line.

No injuries were reported.

But according to John, the incident began hours earlier at his home.

“My wife got up, and she was getting ready to go to work. She went up to open the garage door, and there were no cars there. And the garage door is open. So she hollered at me, and I came out. And of course, I was very surprised. So we just kind of went, better call the cops,” John said.

John says Sink entered the home early in the morning through a sliding glass door. Before going inside, he says Sink ended up in the couple’s pool.

“He left his phone in the pool. He left his jeans. He left his sweatshirt in my garage and his socks in my pool,” John said.

After the swim, John says Sink went inside the home, took keys and a wallet from a table, and drove off in John’s car.

John says Sink changed into the clothes he had inside the car, then drove to Target and Walmart before abandoning the vehicle a few blocks away. He then walked back to the home and took the second car — his wife’s SUV — whose keys had been left inside.

“He just walked back and got my wife’s car,” John said.

That SUV, investigators say, is the same one Sink later drove during the cross-county chase.

“It’s like, Holy cow [...] Dude, you’re stupid. Don’t ram a cop. Just give up. Because they pitted him about three times, and he just kept going and kept going and kept going,” John said.

Sink was arrested in Lee County and now faces multiple charges, including reckless driving and fleeing law enforcement. He is expected to be transferred back to Collier County.

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