Shocking footage has captured the moment Florida police officers used paddleboards to pursue a suspect after he bolted and tried to swim away.
Chase Cruz, 28, was being read his Miranda rights on March 16 by a Volusia County deputy and Daytona Beach Shores cop when he sprinted towards the Halifax River.
‘We got one running,’ said the officer as he described Cruz, who was wearing a long-sleeve navy blue shirt and white shorts.
A different angle of the pursuit appears to show the arrest turn into a rescue mission, as the suspect seemed to stop swimming and raised his hands above the water.
After the two officials reached the suspect, an officer jumped into the water to place a floatation device around him, and he was handcuffed to a buoy.
The officers then pulled Cruz onto his paddleboard and brought him to shore, where several other cops were waiting.
He was charged with loitering, prowling, and resisting arrest, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Several viewers were astonished by the footage and applauded the officers’ work on social media.
One user wrote: ‘It’s all fun and games to folks evading until that lactic acid builds up! Good work, VCSO!’
Another added: ‘Maybe if you can’t swim across, you shouldn’t jump in. Good work, Volusia County Sheriff Department keeping them honest.’
A third said: ‘Why….WHY do they always run!?!? Bro, you KNOW you’re going to get caught!
‘Maybe not right away, but they WILL catch you! And over some loitering?? Cmon dude.’
In another recent police chase in Florida, a father hurled himself out of his moving SUV with his wife and three terrified children still inside as deputies closed in.
The astonishing scene unfolded on Highway 79 in Washington County on November 10 after a young child secretly dialed 911 to report that her parents were fighting in the car.
The domestic violence call disconnected abruptly before responders could gather more information, police said.
Minutes later, deputies spotted the family’s SUV matching the child’s description, but 46-year-old Albert Dale Searcy didn’t stop when cops tried to pull the car over.
Officers then watched in disbelief as Searcy flung open the car door and leapt out onto the road, leaving his family hurtling down the highway without a driver in the front seat.
