A car crash in Florida resulted in an odd situation for responding deputies when the driver stripped off most of his clothes and attempted to hide in a swamp.
The incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. ET on April 10 near the city of Mulberry, Florida, just south of Lakeland, when a Nissan Sentra crossed over the center line on Highway 640 and collided with a Kenworth semi-truck, the Miami Herald reported.
Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene and learned that the driver of the Sentra, 23-year-old Mulberry resident Zachary Brooks, had a seemingly panicked reaction to the incident. Instead of exchanging information with the semi-truck driver, he allegedly fled the scene while stripping off items of clothing.
"After the crash, the defendant ran away from the scene without providing information such as a driver's license, insurance, or vehicle registration," one of the responding deputies wrote in the official report. "The defendant was...described as having taken his clothes off and running away in just his underwear."
Search dogs were brought to the scene to search for the fleeing man. Eventually, he was located under strange conditions: hiding approximately one mile into a nearby swamp, wearing nothing but a blue pair of boxers. After he was found, the suspect cooperated with deputies, complied with his arrest, and was treated for minor injuries. Officials told the Herald that Brooks did not resist.
In a statement to Newsweek, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Brooks "didn't do much talking to deputies after they caught him," and as such, no precise motive for his panicked response is known. It confirmed that the man seemed "eager" to comply with deputies once found.
"Once they did catch him though, he was eager for deputies to get him out of the swamp," a spokesperson for the office told Newsweek. "I imagine running through a swamp in your underwear does not feel very nice."
He is now charged "with leaving the scene of a crash with injuries, failure to maintain required insurance, and knowingly driving while license suspended or revoked," according to the affidavit.
Despite the oddity of the situation from April 10, fleeing law enforcement by hiding in swamps is a seemingly common tactic in the Sunshine State, dotted as it is with numerous swampy regions. In January, police in Volusia County found a man hiding in a swamp after he was caught peeping into a woman's window.
Last August, a Flagler County man fled police after he was found to have a suspended license during a traffic stop. After crashing his vehicle into a ditch, he left on foot and attempted to hide in a nearby swamp. He was ultimately located after officers deployed an airboat and located his heat signature.
Updated, 04/18/2023, 6:35 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and comment from the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
