A Florida man was caught on a police body camera jumping into the ocean to avoid arrest when a pair of boat cops realized he had an active warrant while questioning him on code violations.
Viral footage captured in April by officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) shows a man who identified himself as “Anthony” leaping off the back of his boat into the water near Key West, leaving his girlfriend behind while she begged for his phone’s passcode.
The 18-minute-long video begins with two female officers in an FWC vessel questioning Anthony, who was out on a small fishing boat with an unidentified woman.
Watch video:
While the officers explained that they were out searching for a different boat, they noticed that Anthony’s boat had multiple code violations.
Neither Anthony nor his girlfriend were able to provide identification, though the man did show the boat’s registration that stated it was owned by someone else, who he said was a friend.
Anthony told the officers he thought they were looking for someone else, to which the one behind the body camera said, “Well we were, until we saw that you had violations in the water.”
“I don’t know what your attitude is, but relax, it’s not that deep,” the other officer said.
Anthony kept arguing back-and-forth with the cops until one asked, “Is that why you’re freaking out? Because you have a warrant?”
While the man denied that he had a warrant, the officer brought it up and listed charges related to illegal tarpon fishing, which would cost him $3,000 to bond out.
That is when Anthony said he could not afford that, and threatened to jump into the ocean to swim back to shore.
“You’re adding a third degree felony… you’re not going to have any money,” one of the cops said.
“You’re telling me I’m resisting and I’m not,” Anthony said, after already entering the ocean.
Meanwhile, his girlfriend screamed at him to come back and give her his phone passcode, presumably to make arrangements in the case of his arrest.
“I am done after this. I am telling you, I’m leaving,” the woman yelled after Anthony refused. “I don’t know how to drive a boat!”
Anthony began swimming away, while asking the cops to help his girlfriend get back to shore.
“He’s trying to swim to land, I don’t think he’s going to make it,” one of the officers said over her radio.
“Y’all are out of control,” Anthony yelled at the cops while he desperately swam.
One of them replied, “The only one out of control right now is you, I don’t understand how you don’t see that.”
The arguing continued as the officers followed the rogue swimmer in their boat before they finally hopped out and arrested him when he made it to land.
“I’m sorry guys,” the man said.
“You’re just being an idiot. I don’t get why, I really don’t,” one cop replied.
“Dude would rather swim to land than give his girl his passcode,” wrote the top YouTube commenter.
“First time I’ve ever seen someone having a casual conversation with police while in the midst of fleeing,” said another.
After other cops intercepted Anthony on the beach, the female officer behind the body camera told them, “We have to help his poor f*cking girlfriend, though, cause she can’t run a boat and she’s literally sitting out there.”
“He refused to cooperate and decided to leave her there,” she added.
It is unclear what charges Anthony is facing after the strange incident.
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