It could be a scene from an action movie, but it’s not. The water chase by two police officers who went after a 28-year-old young man who escaped while being read his rights, happened in real life in Daytona Beachmore precisely in the waters of the halifax river in Florida, United States.
Footage recorded with the body camera and shared on social media by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office (VSO) shows the moment law enforcement officers had to get on paddle surf boards to chase the suspect after he jumped into a river to avoid arrest.
It happened on Monday, March 16, and they recently shared the police report in a joint post on Instagram and Facebook that went viral after making the video of the event public.
«The incident occurred after the man, identified as Chase Cruz, 28, fled to the river Halifax without having finished reading the charges of which he was accused and his rights,» the security forces detailed.
The Halifax River is a coastal waterway located in Volusia County, Florida, that flows parallel to the Atlantic Ocean through the Daytona Beach area. There are usually fishermen, people who go boating and others who go for a walk to enjoy the sighting of manatees and dolphins.
That idyllic tranquility that characterizes the place was transformed into a security operation that could well be a sequence shot suitable for the big screen.
The clip lasts just over a minute and a half, but there is a cut in the middle that suggests that the life of the young man who was trying to flee was at risk.
Surfing to catch up to a suspect who jumped into the river to evade arrest
The filming begins with the reading of the rights by one of the officers, and in the foreground the suspect’s face is seen, worried, restless and nervous.
«You have the right to speak with a lawyer who can advise you before we ask you any questions. A lawyer who is present…», the police officer manages to tell him.
And suddenly, the young man turns around and begins a marathon towards the pier. «Hey, hey, don’t run!» they shout, and immediately through the radio they alert them to the situation and send out a request for reinforcements.
«White man, blue shirt, white shorts, we are running, going towards the river» is heard as the camera bounces and blurs due to the speed.
The next thing you see is that two police officers jumped on paddle boards to arrest Cruz, who was seen floating with difficulty in the murky waters.
They did not detail how much time passed between the escape and the next shot, but in the area view captured from a drone the suspect is seen alone, in the immensity of the river, and could barely stay afloat.
Officers approached him and had to help him out while asking him to keep his hands up. It seemed more like a rescue than an arrest, because it is observed that the young man asks for a life preserver and begs to return to shore.
The officers helped him onto one of their paddleboards, tied him with a rope to make sure he stayed close and safe, and then began swimming back toward shore.
In the last video clip it is seen that a large team of police received them at the dock, waiting attentively to assist Cruz and escort him to the station.
The official Facebook and Instagram accounts of the Vermont County Sheriff’s Office (VSO) together have nearly half a million followers.
Faced with such a massive audience, it didn’t take long for that video to go viral with hundreds of reactions and comments. «Could he be a triathlete?» one of the Internet users asked ironically.
According to the police report, the young man was accused of loitering, loitering and resisting arrest, charges for which he must answer to the authorities.
