Gunfire suspect leads police on 4-mile chase
BOYNTON BEACH — A 25-yearold man led Boynton Beach police on a 4-mile chase after firing an assault rifle near a city park, according to documents released Monday.
Joshua Aiken of Boynton Beach was booked into the county jail early Sunday, after spending hours in a hospital for injuries he’d gotten while fleeing from police. Judge Caroline Shepherd set his bail at $52,000 on Monday.
Authorities received a call Saturday evening that someone was firing shots near Sara Sims Park on Northwest Ninth Court. The caller said the gunman left in an SUV.
While searching the area, police spotted a white Chevy SUV heading west on Boynton Beach Boulevard. Officers activated their lights and sirens in an attempt to pull over the SUV, but the driver sped up and headed north on Interstate 95 police said.
The SUV was “erratically swerving” between cars on I-95 and topped 100 mph, police said. Aiken then sped off onto the Lantana Road exit, went over the median, hit another c ar and then came to a stop.
Aiken reportedly grabbed a black object, which police believed to be a rifle, and ran north toward a Publix plaza. He tossed a bag while he ran.
Police said that bag carried two 9 mm pistols — one that had been reported stolen out of Palm Beach County — more than a dozen rounds of ammunition, and drugs including three grams of heroin, more than four grams of cocaine, marijuana, a scale and a syringe. Aiken faces multiple weapon offenseand drug-related charges.