NORTH PORT, Fla. — North Port police say they have located the man they believe is responsible for killing two people late Thursday.
According to police, officers were called just before midnight about a "disturbance" in the area of Mallicoat Road near Harbell Street. When officers arrived, they said they saw a man get into a car registered to 21-year-old Dima Tower.
Police said they quickly started following the driver, who led them on a chase north onto Interstate 75 before it was forced to stop in unincorporated Venice. From there, the driver got out of the car and ran away into the woods nearby.
Police believed Tower was driving the car and officers searched for him in the area before finding him near I-75 and Laurel Road. He is in custody. The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office assisted in the search, police added.
Tower had been last seen wearing black shorts and a sleeveless black and white T-shirt. He was considered "armed and dangerous."
Police say the two people killed knew Tower.
One neighbor said he was shocked by the incident and the police activity.
"I came out here around 9 a.m. this morning to get my mail and I saw all the cars and I was like what the heck happened, I talked to my neighbor and I heard," CJ Coleman of North Port said.
Coleman said he met the couple when he first moved in and that they'd always been friendly while out walking their dog.
"I walked out front and they greeted me and welcomed me to the neighborhood," he said. "They said they were kind of like the neighborhood watch and said if there was anything I needed to let them know.
"North Port is a good community. It's few and far between, but it does happen. Unfortunately, it happened to really, really good people."
Tower has been booked into the Sarasota County Jail on two counts of murder.