Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday has sentenced Victor Lamar Orr (30, Sarasota) to 10 years in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute controlled substances, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The court also ordered Orr to forfeit two Glock pistols and assorted ammunition. Orr pleaded guilty on November 26, 2024.
According to court documents, on May 25, 2022, Orr, a convicted felon with four prior convictions for fleeing and attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, fled from a deputy with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) during an attempted traffic stop. Orr drove his vehicle through a red light and fled at a high speed. The deputy did not pursue Orr, but the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) Aviation Unit, which had been working with MCSO conducting narcotics surveillance, tracked Orr’s vehicle as he continued to flee. Orr ran through red lights, drove over medians, and passed vehicles by driving on the shoulder and in opposite lanes of travel. He drove into Sarasota, back into Manatee County, then east to DeSoto County and south to Charlotte County, where the SCSO Aviation Unit, running low on fuel, stopped surveillance. Orr made several evasive maneuvers during his flight, including driving through a yard and completely around a house, and driving on the opposite side of the highway to evade stop sticks placed by law enforcement.
At one point, Orr pulled off the highway and drove into a field off State Road 31 in Punta Gorda. There, Orr threw a backpack out of the vehicle. Deputies from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, having been informed by the SCSO Aviation Unit that the driver discarded something from the vehicle, responded to the field and recovered a backpack which contained a Glock pistol, fentanyl, methamphetamine, a digital scale, and various pills including oxycodone.
On August 5, 2022, while MCSO investigators and the SCSO Aviation Unit were investigating suspected narcotics trafficking and conducting surveillance, they observed Orr driving a pickup truck with three others in the vehicle. They tracked the vehicle to a clothing store, where all the occupants exited. When Orr and the others left the store and returned to the truck, MCSO investigators moved toward the vehicle and apprehended Orr and the others immediately after they entered the truck. Inside the truck, investigators located two firearms and a bag containing cocaine and other controlled substances.
DNA analysis determined that Orr’s DNA was consistent with DNA on the firearm found inside the backpack he had thrown from his vehicle on May 25, 2022, and DNA on one of the firearms found in the truck Orr drove on August 5, 2022.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Sinacore and David Chee. The asset forfeiture was handled by Assistant United States Attorney James Muench.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Originally published at https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/sarasota-man-who-repeatedly-fled-law-enforcement-sentenced-10-years-drug-trafficking
