On January 29th, Melbourne Police responded to the railroad crossing at Materson St and US1 for a vehicle crash. When they arrived, they discovered a white Scion with front-end damage sitting on the tracks with the driver of the vehicle missing.
Witnesses described the driver as an older white male, approximately 250 lbs who fled north on Avacado Avenue on foot. Melbourne Police began a search for the driver with the assistance of Brevard County Sheriff’s Office STAR helicopter.
A southbound Brightline train came within feet of striking the abandoned vehicle, but was able to stop just in time. As Melbourne Police shut down the intersection to allow a tow truck to remove the vehicle, another Brightline train traveling north could be heard approaching the scene.
As we captured on our Facebook Live, the northbound train did not stop, but continued forward coming within inches of the vehicles. One of the crossing arms struck the tow truck when it was activated for the approaching train. Once the vehicle was removed, the southbound train quickly resumed its travel.
The search for the missing driver led police to the backyard of a newly constructed home on Pineapple Ave and Parkway on the river. While two officers were searching the backyard, they state that a man appeared from the back door of the house. They identified themselves as police officers at which time they state the man raised a silver revolver and pointed it at them. They state he then stepped back into the house somewhat, and began doing what looked like loading the revolver before going completely inside and closing the door.
Officers took cover and called for backup. The house was surrounded and multiple attempts were made to get the man to come out of the house and surrender to the officers. Police were able to identify the man as 53 year-old Charles Koehler. He could be seen though the unusual windows of the home hiding behind a wooden structure.
As police continued to give demands over the public address system for him to peacefully surrender, they observed Koehler walking around the house, ignoring their commands.
Eventually, once Melbourne SWAT approached the home in a heavily armored vehicle, commanding him to surrender, Koehler exited the front door with his hands in the air and was taken into custody without further incident.
Meanwhile, the driver of the abandoned vehicle was identified as 72-year-old Alan Parenteau. Police went to his apartment where he was not present, but a neighbor provided them with his cellphone number.
Officers spoke with Alan on the phone who stated he was injured from the crash, but refused to give his location or meet with the officers. He was eventually located by BCSO’s helicopter and taken into custody. After searching him, they found the keys to the abandoned vehicle still in his pocket.
He was charged with resisting and officer without violence, and leaving the scene of a crash with property damage.
Koehler was charged 2 counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, 2 counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and resisting an officer without violence.
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