Fled Florida, ditched car at pharmacy, caught on foot

A Pensacola man wanted for trafficking methamphetamines was arrested in Florala late yesterday after leading U.S. Marshals on a chase in Destin and attempting to ditch his car in Florala.

Greg Jackson said the Gulf Coast Regional Task Force of the U.S. Marshals, along with the Florala Police Department and the Covington County Sheriff’s Department, arrested Michael Perri Rosen, 33, of Pensacola. At press time, Rosen was being held as a fugitive of justice in the Covington County Jail.

Marshals attempted to make contact with Rosen at a hotel in Destin on Wednesday morning, but he managed to get to his vehicle and led officers on a chase.

“It got so dangerous, they had to back off,” Jackson said.

Jackson and Florala Chief Sonny Bedsole, along with other officers, found Rosen’s car abandoned beside Florala Pharmacy, and began asking local business owners if they had seen the suspect.

“A good citizen at the lake told us she had seen him and that he had just walked up the hill (toward Hardee’s),” Jackson said.

Officer Beth Johnson, who works with the Covington County Sheriff’s Department was going into Hardee’s when the suspect saw her and ran. Jackson happened to be turning into Hardee’s, saw the suspect run, and chased him down the hill toward the lake, eventually tackling him.

Rosen is being held on a $250,000 bond. He is wanted for tracking meth in Santa Rosa County, Fla.