Charges Stack Up Against Bank Robbery Suspect

BROOKSVILLE - Three counties have charges against a bank robbery suspect who led deputies on a high-speed pursuit Thursday afternoon.

Citrus County issued a warrant Friday for a charge of robbery with a firearm against Derik Grissom, 25. Investigators there say Grissom held up a Floral City branch of Brannen Bank on Thursday afternoon.

He made his escape in a burgundy Chevy Impala, but Sumter County deputies caught up with him on Interstate 75, a report shows. Hernando County deputies joined in the southbound chase, which continued west on Cortez Boulevard into the city of Brooksville, a report states.

A Hernando County deputy said Grissom made "erratic lane changes" and passed other motorists in the emergency lanes while driving at an "excessive speed." He whizzed through a red light at the Spring Lake Highway intersection "without regard for crossing motorists or pedestrians," a report states.

As the pursuit neared Brooksville, Grissom deliberately tried to collide head-on with a police sergeant parked in the grassy median, a report states. Stop sticks punctured the Impala's tires at the Cortez Boulevard "truck route" juncture and Grissom's vehicle came to a rolling stop near Kennedy Boulevard.

Hernando County charged Grissom, of St. Cloud, with fleeing to elude; Sumter County charged him with aggravated fleeing to elude; Brooksville police charged him with aggravated assault of an officer. He is being held on a no-bond status.