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Area murder suspect nabbed on bicycle at GB crash scene
Aron Easley, 38, of Pensacola was taken into custody at approximately 10 p.m. by Escambia County deputy Jay Frydrychowicz, who was assisting former Gulf Breeze Police colleagues in the investigation of a pickup truck crash near the Pensacola Beach overpass on U.S. Highway 98. Easley allegedly shot his girlfriend, Demetria Huff, 37, around 6 p.m. Monday, May 19, at the Village Apartments at 500 East Fairfield Drive in Pensacola. He apparently fled the scene and later stole a bicycle from the 900 block of East Texas Drive, according to a Pensacola Police Department report. Easley eventually was charged with an open count of murder. Additional charges included possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, burglary and petit theft. Easley initially was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail. Easley's bizarre capture came as law enforcement and emergency crews responded to a violent single-vehicle accident on westbound U.S. 98 just before the beach exit overpass. Anthony Eman, 26, of Pensacola lost control of his white Chevrolet Avalanche dual-cab pickup truck as he reached down to the floorboard to answer his ringing cell phone. Eman lost control and crashed into a light pole on the north side of the highway. Miraculously, Eman and three passengers were unhurt. The impact appeared to have "folded the truck in two," Gulf Breeze resident Kragh Folland said. "The utility pole was severed about 10 feet up. All of the wires, from many directions, were very low. Many of them were touching the ground." Easley, who already had pedaled his way across Three Mile Bridge, approached the crash scene on the bike. Frydrychowicz, fearing the cyclist might come in contact with live electrical wires, ordered Easley to stop. At the same time, Frydrychowicz alertly heard an all-points-bulletin on his cruiser radio describing the suspect in the Pensacola shooting. The officer noticed that the description matched Easley, who was exhibiting nervous behavior. Frydrychowicz pulled Easley aside for questioning and cuffed him minutes later. The motive for the shooting was not immediately determined. However, detectives learned Easley and Huff, the shooting victim, had argued about the man's alcohol use earlier in the day. Sgt. Chuck Mallett of the Pensacola Police Department said the weapon used in the shooting had not been recovered. Back at the crash scene, crews from Gulf Power worked into the wee hours of Tuesday morning to restore power to 633 customers who remained in the dark from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. |
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