A wanted man with a history of running from police thought a Gainesville apartment complex parking lot was his best escape route on a Friday afternoon. He was wrong, and the deputies who boxed in his Mercedes SUV made sure of that.
On the afternoon of June 5, 2026, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office FOCUS deputies received real-time intelligence that 24-year-old Fredrick Tyrone Perryman Jr. was in the area of SW 34th Street in Gainesville. Perryman was not exactly a low-profile target. He was carrying active warrants from two separate counties, Volusia and Polk, on a list of charges that included multiple narcotics violations, tampering with evidence, and fleeing and eluding at high speed with reckless disregard for public safety. The last item on that list should have been a warning to deputies about what was coming next.
When deputies located Perryman behind the wheel of a black Mercedes SUV pulling into an apartment complex in the 700 block of SW 34th Street and moved to conduct a traffic stop, he did exactly what his warrant history suggested he would. He hit the gas in reverse, barreling backward through the parking lot in an attempt to escape. Two deputies moved quickly to box him in, positioning their vehicles on either side of the SUV. Perryman’s response was to ram both of them.
It did not work. Additional deputies arrived and used their own vehicles to pin the Mercedes in place. Perryman eventually exited the SUV and was taken into custody without further incident. A subsequent inventory search of the vehicle turned up approximately 67 grams of marijuana, an electric scale, and multiple plastic bags, suggesting the drive was more than recreational.
A Rap Sheet Built for Speed and Consequences
This was not Perryman’s introduction to Florida law enforcement or to the specific charge of fleeing and eluding. According to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, his driver’s license was suspended in 2024 specifically because of a prior fleeing and eluding conviction involving reckless disregard for public safety, and he had been found guilty of that offense at least once before.
Showing up in Gainesville with an active warrant for the same type of charge, behind the wheel of a vehicle, while his license was suspended, qualified as a notable lack of self-awareness.
The Charges He Left the Parking Lot With
In addition to the outstanding warrants from Volusia and Polk counties, Perryman was charged at the time of arrest with possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver; fleeing or eluding police with lights and sirens active; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill; possession of drug equipment; and driving with a license suspended as a second or subsequent offense.
The aggravated assault charge stems from the act of using the Mercedes SUV as a weapon against the deputies whose vehicles he rammed. He is currently being held on a bond of $195,000.
What “Boxing In” Actually Looks Like
The tactic deputies used to stop Perryman is a deliberate and well-practiced containment method. Rather than a traditional PIT maneuver, which is used to spin a fleeing vehicle to a stop during a pursuit, a box-in involves positioning multiple law enforcement vehicles around a suspect’s car to physically prevent movement in any direction.
It requires coordination, timing, and a willingness to accept some vehicle damage in the process, which is exactly what happened here when Perryman rammed two patrol units before additional units arrived to complete the containment. The body camera footage released by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office shows the moment Perryman got out of the SUV and was identified by his Florida ID before being placed under arrest.
A Mercedes SUV as a Getaway Vehicle
Worth noting from a purely automotive standpoint: Perryman chose a Mercedes SUV as his vehicle of choice for a parking lot escape attempt against multiple law enforcement vehicles. It is not the worst platform for the job in terms of mass and acceleration, but no amount of horsepower overcomes a coordinated box-in with deputies who have already decided they are not letting the car leave. The Mercedes came out of the encounter immobilized. The deputies came out of it with a wanted suspect in custody, 67 grams of marijuana off the street, and paperwork that will keep prosecutors occupied for some time.
All charges are accusations. Perryman is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.