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No Bond For Port Everglades Gate Crasher

FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) - Swaying from side to side and smiling as the charges against him were read in a bond hearing, a man accused of stealing a car and then taking it for a joyride through two security check points at Port Everglades won't be going anywhere for a while.

Remarking that he seemed to be enjoying his time in jail, Broward Circuit Judge John Hurley ordered that Jackson Richardson, 20, be held without bond for violating his probation.

In addition to probation violation, Richardson is also charged with grand theft, fleeing a law enforcement officer, possession of marijuana, trespassing and driving with a suspended license.

According to the Broward Sheriff's Office just before 6 a.m. Richardson, in a stolen late model red Dodge Challenger, ran a checkpoint near the port's entrance.

"At that point we have a deputy that's stationed right inside the checkpoint, (he) witnesses the security breach and immediately takes off after the vehicle," said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti.

The pursuit came to a crashing end when Sgt. Joe Fitzpatrick's cruiser deputy careened into the Challenger near cruise ship terminal 21, about a mile from the port's main entrance.

Both Fitzpatrick and Richardson were taken to Broward General Medical Center where they were treated for their injuries. The car was searched for weapons and explosives – none was found.

America's ports and airports are on a heightened alert after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

"Our personnel here at the port is always at a heightened state of awareness, they're always vigilant, everything worked as it should have," said BSO spokeswoman Dani Moschella. "When the man came through that gate they immediately started pursuit and they immediately stopped him."

Moscella said Richardson actually crashed two security gates before he was stopped.

"I have to tell you, if this incident would have happened last week this would have ended very differently probably fatally," said Lamberti.

That's because last week was Fleet Week and the docks were filled with thousands of sailors and dozens of ships.

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