Lee County deputy nearly run over after street racing incident; multiple arrests

Writer: Matias Abril
Published: Updated:

Multiple people have been arrested for alleged street racing after a gathering of more than 100 cars on a secluded public access road ended with a deputy being nearly run over and a dog latching onto someone’s leg.

Eric Pagan is a warehouse associate for Home Depot, off of Airport Haul Road in Lee County, just south of Southwest Florida International Airport. It is usually home to 18-wheelers, but on Saturday, it was home to something much different.

Pagan has worked here for years, but he has never seen his lot look like this.

“It’s crazy. It’s crazy,” Pagan said. “Since I started here, I haven’t seen such a skid mark. It’s been happening lately.”

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said 100 people were in the lot performing vehicle stunts and doing donuts.

“It’s probably some teenagers looking for a hangout area, and it’s something that’s getting out of hand,” Pagan said.

For Pagan, his main concern is safety.

“You don’t know what’s going on around here, damage to any property,” Pagan said.

When Lee County Sheriff’s deputies showed up, it was only the beginning of the chaos.

The police report says that when Deputy Gabriel Hollow tried to pull over Kyle Irvin, one of the suspect drivers, another truck pulled up from behind the deputy.

When Hollow confronted the truck, Irvin got out of his Dodge Caravan, yelling at Hollow. The truck behind them pulled off and accelerated, almost running Hollow over.

“If this incident occurred when peoples around, you know, you can kill somebody, you can actually hurt something,” Pagan said.

In all that, the deputy accidentally opened the door to his K-9 cruiser, and his K-9 dog, Koa, escaped and started running loose and latched onto Irvin’s leg.

“It’s really crazy,” Pagan said. “You know, you don’t see or you don’t expect situations like this around here, ’cause it’s pretty much professional people that work around here, people responsible who work hard every day to get a paycheck to their houses.”

Irvin is expected to be OK but sustained minor injuries from the dog bite.

He was arrested and booked into the Lee County Jail.

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