A driver fleeing Florida Highway Patrol troopers hit 120 mph on Interstate 95 and veered into oncoming traffic on County Road 210 on Sunday, Aug. 23.

Jarrod Tafari Jones, 24, of Monticello was booked into the St. Johns County jail on a felony charge of fleeing police with disregard for the safety of people or property, according to an FHP arrest report first detailed by the St. Johns Citizen. After troopers read Jones his rights, he told them he ran because he believed he had marijuana in his truck.

No marijuana was found.

The wrong-way stretch on CR 210 put drivers in the eastbound lanes directly in the path of the oncoming pickup. The truck crossed a shoulder, entered those lanes going west-to-east and nearly collided head-on with approaching traffic before returning to the correct side, FHP said. Jones then allegedly passed vehicles in the bicycle lane before stopping near The Vinings Drive and raising his hands.

The pursuit had started minutes earlier on State Road 16, where an FHP captain reported that a burgundy GMC pickup refused to stop. A second trooper near the I-95 entrance spotted the truck heading north at what the arrest report called an "extreme high rate of speed." That trooper paced the pickup at 120 mph as it allegedly weaved across both shoulders and repeatedly came close to other motorists. Debris from the truck cracked the patrol car's windshield in three places.

Troopers ordered Jones out at gunpoint and arrested him without further incident. He allegedly acknowledged that fleeing had been the wrong choice and said he bolted over "a little bit of weed" in his possession.

Under Florida law, fleeing at high speed or with wanton disregard for safety is a second-degree felony. A conviction carries a mandatory license revocation of one to five years, and the vehicle can be seized. The exact felony degree charged against Jones could not be confirmed from the arrest report.

The arrest came five days before FHP Jacksonville announced a separate felony fleeing case on Friday, Aug. 28. In that incident, troopers arrested a motorcyclist clocked at 115 mph in a 55-mph zone.

No court date for Jones has been announced. Residents can report reckless driving by calling 911 or contacting FHP's Jacksonville office.