Kimberly Blair

pnj.com

Updated 2:35 p.m.: A suspect in a Thursday murder in Mobile, Ala., was arrested by Gulf Breeze Police officers Friday morning after he wrecked his car during a high-speed chase through the city.

Police Chief Robert Randle said the suspect, Jamal Jackson, 23, of Mobile, was treated at Gulf Breeze Hospital for minor injuries and released back into police custody. He's in the city's jail, where Mobile investigators are en route to process him for evidence for the murder. He awaits process into the Santa Rosa County Jail.

Randle said he had dried blood on him when he was arrested.

Gulf Breeze Police got a call around 6:30 a.m. about a suspicious person sitting in a car at the Exxon station at the corner of Andrew Jackson Trail and U.S. 98. The clerk at the station had become uneasy with Jackson's behavior.

When police officer Chris Lanzetta responded, the suspect began acting nervous, Randle said. Lanzetta called in the tags and requested backup, at which time the suspect took off in his 2003 Buick, went forward and back several times, hit a utility pole, and sped east down the westbound side of U.S. 98 into oncoming traffic in front of the Gulf Breeze High School football stadium, narrowly missing at least two oncoming cars, Randle said.

"Thankfully, the traffic was light," Randle said.

Gulf Breeze officers Kerry Troy and Robert Travierne kept Jackson in their sight, but backed off of their high-speed pursuit for fear of endangering other motorists.

Once he got to the Daniel Drive intersection, he shifted into the eastbound lane and lost control of his vehicle after driving under the overpass to Pensacola Beach. His car went out of control and hit a tree head-on in the median in front of Gulf Breeze Hospital.

Jackson attempted to back up and leave, but was blocked by police. He would not respond to commands by the officers to surrender, so they tazed him several times, Randle said.

He was taken to the nearby hospital in an ambulance.

According to a source with the Mobile Police Department, Jackson is accused of killing his girlfriend before setting fire to the house where he attacked her.