A Florida police officer caught a 2-month-old baby that a suspect in a high-speed chase threw at him

• A man took police in Florida on a 40-minute car chase on May 26.
• When he was finally cornered, he threw his 2-month-old son at an officer and attempted to flee.
• The deputy safely caught the baby. The suspect was tackled, arrested, and charged with child abuse.

After a lengthy high-speed chase, a suspect in Florida hurled his 2-month-old baby boy at a police officer who safely caught the child, the Indian River County Sheriff's Office said.

The chase occurred on May 26 in Gifford, Florida. The suspect, identified as 32-year-old John Henry James III, is facing two felony counts of aggravated child abuse and other felony charges.

"You can't throw a baby at us and expect us to treat you with kid gloves," Sheriff Eric Flowers said following the incident.

Police dashboard cameras and a helicopter camera recorded a fair amount of the 40-minute chase. Police said the suspect drove recklessly across town after refusing to pull over for a traffic stop due to failure to maintain the lane. After being boxed into an apartment complex parking lot, he got out of the car with the infant and hurled him at an officer before attempting to escape on foot.

The officer safely caught the baby, who was then taken to safety, police said.

"I've seen some crazy stuff but this is definitely up there," Deputy Jacob Curby, who caught the baby, told WPEC. "He just turned around, no regard, not a little toss or anything, he just turned around, overhand threw this 2-month-old at me from about 6 feet away."

The throw was not clearly visible in the video, however the officer can be seen carrying the infant at the 5 minute, 43 second mark, moments after the suspect was tackled to the ground by police.

After stopped the suspect, officers were eventually able to arrest him. The Sheriff's office said he kicked and bit deputies and struggled as they loaded him into the police car.

During the chase, James hit the front of a detective's car, dodged roadblocks, and drove over stop-sticks that failed to stop his car, police said.

In addition to the child abuse felony counts, James was charged with aggravated battery on an officer/firefighter/EMT, battery on the same, reckless driving, and resisting arrest with violence.

The Department of Children and Families is also investigating the incident.