PANAMA CITY — A sex offender has been sentenced to six years in prison for crashing into police while attempting to flee arrest.
Joshua Warren Lutz, 32, pleaded no contest Friday to a litany of charges, spanning from aggravated battery on an officer to knowingly driving with a suspended or revoked license. Lutz agreed Friday to six years in a correctional facility to be followed by six years probation.
Police were seeking Lutz for violating his five-year probation for molesting an 8-year-old child. Bay County Sheriff’s deputies spotted Lutz in January near Sunrise Drive in Panama City Beach and attempted to place him under arrest before a collision with police patrol cars and a high-speed pursuit through residential neighborhoods.
Lutz outran deputies in the foot race to his truck, according to arrest records. He then “intentionally” struck a marked patrol car while speeding off.
“Joshua could have driven either left or right to avoid the patrol vehicle and he had his emergency lights turned on,” police reports stated.
BCSO followed Lutz through neighborhoods of Sunrise Drive, where he also collided with a parked car, and Wildwood Road. Lutz sped through the light at U.S. 98 and Wildwood Road, headed west on Front Beach Road and ran a red light at Laurie Avenue, forcing other vehicles to stop suddenly.
Officers temporarily halted their pursuit at Middle Beach Road due to public safety concerns.
Lutz was arrested later that morning without incident in the area of 15201 Front Beach Road, BCSO said.
The court allowed Lutz to transfer his supervised probation to Arizona after his prison stay.