Florida Man, Brett Lee Curtis, Kidnaps Woman, Leads Police On Car Chase [Video]

A Florida man is now dead after kidnapping his former girlfriend and then leading police on a wild car chase early Tuesday morning. Brett Lee Curtis, 28, of Lakeland Florida led police on a 100-mph chase after kidnapping Elizabeth Hamilton, 26, in Daytona.

According to ABC News, Curtis called 911 a total of four times during the car chase, warning the operator that if officers didn’t stop pursing him, he would kill Hamilton.

“We’re going south on I-95. If he continues to follow me, I will fire a warning shot. The third shot will not be a warning,” Curtis told the 911 operator. “You’ve got three officers ganging up on me right now and I have enough ammunition to kill her and myself,” he added.

According to the Miami Herald, Curtis kidnapped Hamilton from the Lakeland mall where she works. The report continued on to say that Hamilton’s mother reported her missing and authorities spotted Curtis’ car after a statewide alert was issued. “A police officer in South Daytona spotted Curtis’ white Nissan Altima near a shopping center and attempted a traffic stop.”

At one point during the car chase, Curtis actually called 911 and handed the phone to Hamilton, who told the 911 operator “I have been kidnapped and we’re being followed and he’s going to kill me if they keep following him.”

Hamilton recounted the events to ABC News, explaining that she believed the terrifying ordeal wasn’t a plea from Curtis to get back together, but instead an effort to get her to spend the last moments of his life with him. “It hit one point where he looked over at me and said, ‘Three hours ago this seemed to be a good idea, now I’m not so sure,'” Hamilton stated.

According to ABC News, Hamilton pleaded with Curtis to just take her home, and finally, during the last call to 911, Hamilton told police that Curtis was armed with both a rifle and a 9-mm pistol and he was going to drive her home. The report continued on to say that Curtis could be overheard telling Hamilton that “If they try to stop us before then, you’re going to get hurt.”

The car chase then continued on for 45 minutes, but came to a quick end when police punctured Curtis’ tires using stop sticks. “There were eight police cars behind us, lights so bright, and they were screaming, and he started screaming get out of the car. He told me to get out of the car, so I did,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton was able to leave the car unharmed, but when police surrounded the vehicle, they found Curtis dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Check out the phone calls to 911 below:

[Image via ABC News]