Newly filed court documents detail traffic stop, bounty of drugs before shootout at Tom Brown Park

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Newly filed court documents describe Durrell Lee pulling into oncoming traffic and barely avoiding a crash as he fled a traffic stop on Apalachee Parkway last week.

The 35-year-old faces 11 charges, including various drug and weapon offenses. Resisting arrest and fleeing police charges were added later. Lee was taken into custody near the scene of a shootout with police at Tom Brown Park late Thursday night that left one woman dead.

An arrest warrant issued by the Florida Highway Patrol and just made public says a trooper was asked to assist Tallahassee Police by pulling Lee over.

An undercover TPD detective following Lee had clocked him going 55 mph in a 45 mph zone.

The trooper pulled Lee over, and Lee provided his license although could not share proof of insurance, according to the warrant.

A TPD officer arrived at that point and began speaking with Lee. He was asked to get out of the car.

Lee noted he used a wheelchair and would need assistance, according to the report.

Moments later, he fled the scene and began driving the wrong way across Apalachee Parkway, nearly striking a vehicle, per FHP.

Law enforcement soon lost sight of his vehicle.

Police say they found his vehicle abandoned a short time later at Pacheco Pinestraw, not far from Conner Boulevard and Tom Brown Park.

The document includes a lengthy list of items discovered in the vehicle, most of them drugs or drug paraphernalia.

Officers found 19.8 grams of heroin, 5.7 grams of crack cocaine, 54.2 grams of cocaine, 15.4 grams of methamphetamine, 23.1 grams of alpha-PVP, 2.3 grams of MDMA, and 3.2 grams of cannabis, according to court records.

That traffic stop preceded a 911 call that brought officers to Tom Brown Park Thursday evening looking for Lee, only to come under fire.

TPD says as it was questioning Lee and another man, when a woman later identified as Asia Fitzgerald, walked away and then returned with a rifle and began firing on police.

Officers returned fire, TPD said, and killed her. More than 140 rounds were fired in the exchange of gunfire.

Lee was denied bond at his first court appearance Saturday morning.

The State Attorney’s Office has filed a notice to seek harsher penalties in this case, arguing Lee is a habitual felony offender.

U.S. Marshals have also placed a hold on Lee, accusing him of violating the terms of his federal probation.

Newly filed court documents do not include any more specifics about what happened in Tom Brown Park but do give some added insight into the drug investigation and traffic stop that started this deadly chain of events.

WCTV has asked TPD for an update, including who called 911 to report Lee at Tom Brown Park and what link, if any, exists between Lee and Fitzgerald. We are still awaiting additional information.

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