A Florida man was captured on police body camera diving into the ocean to evade arrest after two boat officers questioned him about a rules violation and discovered he had an active warrant for his arrest.
A video captured by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) officer in April is going viral, showing a man calling himself “Anthony” diving into the ocean off the back of a boat near Key West, abandoning his girlfriend while she tries to get the passcode to his phone.
The 18-minute video begins with two female officers on an FWC boat questioning Anthony, who was on a small fishing boat with an unidentified woman.
Watch the video:
The officers explained they were searching another boat, but noticed multiple violations of the rules on Anthony’s boat.
Neither Anthony nor his girlfriend could provide identification, but Anthony produced the boat’s registration and said the owner was a friend.
Anthony told officers he thought they were looking for someone else, but the officer behind the body camera responded, “Yes, that was the case until I saw you guys committing a violation in the water.”
“I don’t know what your attitude is, but please calm down. It’s not that serious,” the other officer said.
Anthony argued repeatedly with the officers, until one of them asked, “Is that why you’re panicking? Because you have a warrant out for your arrest?”
The man denied having a warrant, but officers brought it out and cited him with charges related to illegal tarpon fishing, with bail set at $3,000.
At that point, Anthony said he couldn’t afford it and threatened to jump into the ocean and swim back to shore.
“Add a third-degree felony to that…you’re not getting any money,” one of the officers said.
“They say I’m resisting, but I’m not,” Anthony said after entering the water.
Meanwhile, his girlfriend, presumably to arrange for him to be arrested, was yelling at him to come back and give her the passcode to his phone.
“That’s it, I’m leaving,” Anthony refused, to which the woman yelled, “I don’t know how to operate a boat!”
Anthony began swimming while an officer helped his girlfriend back to shore.
“He’s trying to swim to land but we don’t think he’ll be successful,” one officer radioed.
“You guys are out of control,” Anthony yelled at the officers as he swam for his life.
One of them responded: “You’re the only one out of control right now. I don’t understand why you don’t know that.”
The argument continued as officers pursued the swimmers in a boat, eventually leading to officers jumping from the boat and arresting the swimmers once they reached shore.
“I’m sorry,” said the man.
“You’re just an idiot. I have no idea why,” one of the officers responded.
“This guy would rather swim to dry land than give his girlfriend his passcode,” wrote one top YouTube commenter.
“This is the first time I’ve seen someone have a casual conversation with police while on the run,” said another.
After other officers apprehended Anthony on the beach, a female officer behind the body camera told the officers, “But we have to help his poor girlfriend. She can’t steer the boat and she’s literally just sitting there.”
“He refused to cooperate and decided to leave her there,” she added.
It is unclear what charges Anthony faces following this bizarre incident.
