Palm Coast, FL - A suspect fleeing from a traffic stop crashes into an AT&T box before swimming across a canal to escape Flagler County deputies.
But 22-year-old Tyler Sweeney wasn't able to avoid the Flagler County Sheriff's Office for long.
Sweeney first ran into FCSO when a deputy conducted a traffic stop after observing him commit a traffic infraction Saturday night (March 30th).
The report from FCSO says that the deputy began a traffic stop by turning on their lights, but soon shut them off after being dispatched to another call.
However, when the deputy disengaged their lights, Sweeney took off at a high rate of speed.
The deputy eventually caught up to Sweeney after he crashed into an AT&T equipment box, wrecking his car.
Sweeney exited the vehicle and fled from the scene. The deputy watched as he ran through a wooded area before swimming across a canal to Raintree Circle.
After losing visual of Sweeney, the deputy returned to the site of the crashed vehicle.
Once back on the scene, the deputy noticed a strong smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle.
The deputy searched the vehicle and found a black backpack that contained a mason jar of marijuana and a pill bottle with four pills of oxycodone in it.
Two additional bags of marijuana and a 9mm semi-automatic handgun with no serial number was also recovered from the vehicle.
A total of 249 grams of marijuana was confiscated from the vehicle.
The next day (March 31st), Sweeney was located at his home off Rainbow Lane.
He told deputies that he has post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly referred to as PTSD, and became scared when he saw the patrol vehicle.
"If you run from us, we're going to find you so you might as well save your energy," said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. "This guy went to jail very tired and wet with more charges than if he had just stopped."
Sweeney was arrested and transported to Flagler County Jail, charged with possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia
He was additionally charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, leaving the scene of a crash with damage property and possession of oxycodone.
His bond was set at $12,000. Jail records show he is still in custody.
