Original subtitles

[dramatic music playing] [officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

[Paul] This was the first time ever

in the history of this area

that we've ever had a vessel pursuit.

[man speaking]

[officer speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]

[sirens wailing]

A chase with a runaway U-Haul truck.

We deal with people that are armed all the time.

[sirens wailing]

[indistinct chatter]

[woman] Yes, yes, yes, he is attached to a [indistinct]

[man] What are we gonna do next if it doesn't work?

[sirens wailing]

[officer speaking]

[man] You never know what your bad guy is thinking.

He does not wanna be caught by the police

and there's definitely a reason why.

[officer speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]

[soft upbeat music playing]

[Paul] Venice is centered right here

in the middle of Southwest Florida.

We're about an hour south of Tampa

and an hour of north of Fort Myers.

My name is Paul Joyce.

I work for the city of Venice Police Department

and I work in the Marine division.

Our job is keeping people safe and educated.

Making sure that they're aware

of the rules on the water.

I received a phone call

from Charlotte County Sheriff's Marine unit

and they advised me of an incident

that had occurred earlier in the week

where there was some home burglaries committed

and the suspect had stolen a vessel.

[soft dramatic music playing]

[Paul] They described the vessel

as a 22-foot Pathfinder

powered by a single engine Yamaha.

About 3:30 in the afternoon,

I noticed a vessel approaching me

from the opposite direction.

And then I, uh, kind of looked at the boat.

I'm going, "Well, that looks a little familiar."

I immediately notified our dispatch,

told him that the vessel of the BOLO

that I received earlier that day has just passed me.

[upbeat music playing]

[suspenseful music playing]

[indistinct]

[Paul] Within a few seconds,

the air unit had taken off from our local airport

here in Venice and was over top of us.

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

[Paul] I immediately broke off,

went to the local marina and picked up Officer Brooks.

[Joshua] When you're out on the water

by yourself usually, there's no one

that can get to you if the situation goes wrong.

So to have somebody else on the boat

is essential for our job.

My name's Officer Joshua Brooks.

I'm with the Venice Police Department

and I'm a patrol officer.

[Joshua speaking]

The suspect had stolen a vessel.

And after that, they believe

he came into Charlotte County

and committed some burglaries from that vessel.

[Paul speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Paul speaking]

[sirens blaring]

[Joshua] There's a lot going through my head at the time.

I don't know who's on the boat.

I don't know if they have a criminal history

or if they could be dangerous.

You could have knives on board.

Also, you are allowed to carry a sidearm with you

if you're actively fishing.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Paul speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Paul] That's just when my heart skipped a beat

and the adrenaline kicks in.

[sirens blaring]

[Paul speaking]

This was the first time ever in the history of this area

that we've ever had a documented vessel pursuit.

So this was all gonna be new

and things are racing through my head going,

"All right, we gotta make sure

that we get this guy stopped

and stopped quickly."

[officer speaking]

[intense music playing]

[officer speaking]

[Michael] I was actually

at the North Siesta Key Bridge

when I received a call from dispatch.

I'm Officer Michael Skinner.

I'm with the Sarasota Police Department

Marine Patrol Division.

When I heard Officer Joyce come over the VHF radio,

I knew that I had to get down there quick.

[sirens blaring]

[indistinct radio chatter]

[Michael] When I arrived on scene, it was stressful.

You have the 40-mile-an-hour wind in your ears,

you're listening to the radio.

You have three different agencies on the channel

and you begin to categorize

what is the outcome of this pursuit gonna be?

Why is the suspect not stopping?

Dispatch Patrol Marine 33 is, uh,

also on the fourth sign.

Additional backup is very vital,

whether it's on land or on the water

because you wanna get as many officers you can

to get this vessel stopped as quick as possible.

[Michael] Standby just a second.

I'm on the camera.

[woman] Dispatch [indistinct]

[Michael] Shortly.

Get any, um, gestures

or anything like that [indistinct]

[Michael] I had Officer Joyce to my left,

Deputy Adams to my right,

and the helicopter above.

[sirens blaring]

[Michael] [indistinct] he's got, uh,

quite a bit of outline there.

He's gonna try to get out of the [indistinct]

[Paul] We have three law enforcement vessels

pursuing this one vessel.

So now we need to start coming up with a, um, strategy

of getting this boat to stop.

[Paul speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[Paul speaking]

Obviously, we don't have tires on boats,

but what we do have that controls the boat,

uh, is a prop and that's what's on the...

On the bottom of a motor.

And once that prop stops,

it stops the boat from going anywhere.

[woman] In visual.

[officer speaking]

[woman] [indistinct] be advised.

[officer speaking]

I saw the two officers on board

Officer Joyce's boat

preparing a large ball of tangled line

with floats on it.

They were going to attempt

to get that in front of the suspect's boat

and attempt to foul the propeller

to cause the boat to stall out.

The best-case scenario is they deploy the prop foul

and this fleeing vessel comes to a stop.

Worst-case scenario, the prop foul is deployed

and I get entangled in it.

[suspenseful music playing]

[sirens blaring]

[Michael] We got into position,

Officer Brooks deployed the mechanism.

It deployed perfectly into the water.

He ran over it,

but what we didn't take in account

was our speeds.

Our speeds were greater than 35 miles an hour.

And when your speeds are greater than 35 miles per hour,

it raises your boat higher up out of the water,

so the motors completely missed the device

and drove right over it.

[Joshua] That prop foul ended up

traveling underneath that boat

and came right up in front of me.

I only have seconds to react.

This prop foul gets caught in my propeller,

then I'm out of the pursuit.

I'm done.

[boat motor revving]

[suspenseful music playing]

I actually passed neutral and went into reverse.

I was relieved that I didn't hit the prop foul

and I restarted my boat

and I got back into the pursuit.

[intense music playing]

[Joshua] [indistinct] give me a second.

[officer speaking]

[woman] [indistinct]

[officer speaking]

[sirens blaring]

[Joshua speaking]

We tried getting him to stop with lights and sirens.

He did not comply.

He kept going.

[Joshua speaking]

[man] [indistinct] 100 to [indistinct]

[Joshua speaking]

[sirens blaring]

[Joshua] So we tried pulling up next to him,

yelling at him

to stop the boat, again, he kept going.

[Joshua speaking]

[sirens blaring]

[Joshua speaking]

[sirens blaring]

[Joshua speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Joshua] We tried reasoning with the female

that was on the boat

trying to get her to talk to him

to get him to stop, he didn't do it.

[sirens blaring]

[Michael] At those speeds, you're in an open cockpit,

if you were to strike shallow water, uh,

another vessel, you're gonna be ejected from that vessel.

[intense music playing]

[sirens blaring]

[Michael] The worst-case scenario

is somebody getting hurt,

somebody getting seriously injured or dying.

[suspenseful music playing]

[sirens blaring]

[officer speaking]

[woman] [indistinct]

[man] You're gonna try go up to the bridge

where there's a pinch point

right in the middle of the channel of the bridge.

[intense music playing]

[man] [indistinct]

[officer speaking]

[Paul] We've trained in ways where we can come up

next to a suspect vessel and deploy another officer

off of our vessel and onto the suspect vessel.

But the problem we had in this instance

is we had a dog on board.

So we don't know what would be going on

through that dog's mind.

We don't know if he's aggressive or not.

So we have to take that in consideration too

'cause it's not just about the safety of us

and the general boaters,

we have to think about, you know,

the safety of everyone else too, including the suspect.

[sirens blaring]

[woman] Dispatch [indistinct] 48 Brooksdale Drive.

[officer speaking]

[Michael] With 15 minutes into it,

he began to look around.

Is this gonna come to an end

because he's looking for a place to ditch the boat.

Is he gonna pull it up on a beach?

[Michael speaking]

We start approaching Stump Pass

and it's very shallow in that area.

I'm relying heavily on the electronics

that I have on board,

hoping that the depth that it's showing me

in that area is consistent with the area that I'm in.

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission

otherwise known as FWC works that area.

The FWC boat goes in

and follows the suspect

probably because they're familiar

with the waterways back there.

[intense music playing]

[Joshua] It's really just mangroves and water

all around them

and I was very excited that, okay,

this is finally gonna come to an end

and we're gonna catch the guy

and be able to put handcuffs on him.

That area is very mucky and very shallow.

At that point not being familiar

and seeing how shallow it was,

I backed off a little bit

and pulled alongside Deputy Adams.

[officer speaking]

[officer] [indistinct]

[woman] [indistinct] go ahead.

[officer speaking]

I knew that this was our opportunity

that the boat's not moving fast.

I'm in a stopped position.

I have another boat next to me.

We can formulate a plan to get his vessel stopped.

[officer speaking]

[Michael] Hearing the radio traffic

that he's making his way back towards us,

I pulled Deputy Adams, I have a line on board.

It's not typically made to foul prop

but this may work.

Let's try it.

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

[officer 1 speaking]

So I sat there like, "We got him.

Just come on out."

[officer] Ninety-four.

[woman] 10-4 [indistinct]

[officer speaking]

[Michael] And realized that as the sound of the motor

has got further and further that,

"Oh, he definitely is not coming out this way anymore."

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

He's definitely taken a different route

and we'll scratch this... Scratch this plan.

[man] [indistinct] I think we're gonna go ahead

[indistinct] is gonna go ahead in the 10-56 spot.

Now he's coming back towards me.

[man] Yeah, he's back northbound

to begin now and actually go to you.

It looks like he's...

[Paul] The problem was he's now coming

into a very popular area called Ski Alley.

[siren wailing]

[man speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Michael] I thought I can't predict

this individual's behavior,

but really what's he gonna do next?

[officer speaking]

[siren wailing]

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

[woman] [indistinct] out there.

[Michael] There was a personal watercraft,

a jet ski in the area.

Worst-case scenario he doesn't stop

and he finds himself

colliding with another person or vessel.

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

[Joshua] Anytime you're in a pursuit,

you can get tunnel vision on what's going on.

Ultimately, we wanna catch the bad guy.

That's the point.

You're thinking, "What can I do to stop him?"

And you're usually right up on him.

The good thing about having Air 1 available

was they could see the whole picture.

They had that view from up top.

If they could see where he was going

and the direction he was leading us in.

[officer speaking]

[intense music playing]

[officer speaking]

Oh, really?

[officer speaking]

[officer speaking]

[man] Marine 71 to Air 2.

[officer speaking]

[woman] Right on. Do you copy?

[man] Yeah.

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

[officer 3 speaking]

[officer 4 speaking]

[officer 5 speaking]

[officer 6 speaking]

[intense music playing]

[officer speaking]

[man] Once he jumped off the boat

and took off on land on foot,

it opens up to a variety of different avenues now.

You know, does he know the area?

Is he gonna run into someone's home?

You know, so now the whole thing changes,

the whole dynamic changes.

[officer speaking]

[man 1] I'm on Waterside.

[man 2] We gotta bail, like, we're gonna talk

to the [indistinct]

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

[man] I'm on Waterside.

[officer speaking]

[man 1] 501, I'm on foot. Where is he at?

[man 2] 55 Mangrove.

[officer speaking]

[intense music playing]

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

[officer 1] Air 2 [indistinct]

[officer 2 speaking]

[officer 3 speaking]

[officer 1] 55 Mangrove.

[officer 1 speaking]

[Paul] We had multiple land units

in the area where we were.

They were all in the right spot.

At the point that the suspect ran out of the woods

and was greeted by the Charlotte County Deputies,

he just at that point threw up his arms,

went down on the ground, and just gave up.

Police pursuit on the water over the weekend.

A boat stolen out of Lee County

leading law enforcement on a pursuit

through Venice and into Charlotte County waters.

The boat was spotted by Venice Police,

but it took off as Venice PD pursued,

Charlotte County officials joining in on that chase.

The suspect, he's seen here, Tristan Royer

arrested and charged with grand theft

of a motor vehicle.

[dramatic music playing]

[Michael] It's a relief to have him off the water.

Hopefully, he's taken a motor safety course

and instead of stealing a boat,

maybe he'll rent one.

Just less risk involved with that, so.

[thunder rumbling]

[Calvin] It was a pretty typical shift.

The initial call was in a neighborhood

called Orange Blossom Hills.

This U-Haul truck had pulled up

in front of somebody's house

and they loaded up a motorcycle

and stole it and took off.

I decided to go look for this truck.

This is a neighborhood that we're in all the time.

[woman] [indistinct]

I have worked for the Marion County Sheriff's Office

for 16 years.

I am a corporal assigned to the K9 unit.

Jax is my K9 partner.

[man] We're going 10-15 on him.

[engine revving]

[Calvin] I could see the glow of this U-Haul.

When I first saw the truck, I was like, "Oh, awesome.

We got a U-Haul."

But we don't know it's the U-Haul.

[tense music playing]

[Calvin] It took off down into that neighborhood

and it actually blacked out.

No, this guy doesn't wanna go to jail.

He does not wanna be caught by the police.

And there's definitely a reason why.

[man] [indistinct]

[Calvin] I thought, "100%.

This is the U-Haul that we've been looking for."

[radio beeps]

[Calvin speaking]

He knew I was trying to pull him over

from the get go.

Maybe that stolen motorcycle's

in the back of it right now.

[Calvin speaking]

[dispatch] [indistinct]

[Calvin speaking]

[engine revving]

[dispatch] [indistinct]

[siren wailing]

[Billy] When Deputy Batts keyed up on the radio,

at that moment, it's all hands on deck.

We need to get out here and assist.

When pursuits are initiated,

there is always that adrenaline dump of,

"Hey, this is happening. We need to get there now."

[dispatch] [indistinct]

[siren wailing]

[Calvin] This truck is a U-Haul moving truck.

It probably stands 12 to 15 foot tall.

There's some weight to it.

For a full-sized moving truck, this thing was fast.

[Calvin speaking]

[Billy] Driving in a reckless manner like that

through a neighborhood is always a danger,

which is just amplified by the size of the U-Haul.

[Calvin speaking]

He knows he's not gonna be able

to outrun a patrol car,

but I think that the driver thought

that maybe he could outdrive me.

[Calvin speaking]

[dispatch] 10-4, we're going [indistinct]

[Calvin] And I'll give it to him.

He could drive.

He could drive that truck.

[Calvin speaking]

[dispatch] Northbound [indistinct]

[siren wailing]

[Calvin speaking]

I've got less clearance in my vehicle,

so he kind of had an advantage,

you know, going through there, believe it or not.

[engine revving]

[Calvin speaking]

That wasn't really even a lime rock road,

it was just a trail.

He just sent it right through there.

[engine revving]

[dispatch] [indistinct]

[Calvin speaking]

With this being a dual rear wheel vehicle,

meaning it's got four rear tires

as opposed to two rear tires,

we're not gonna be able to affect

a PIT maneuver on this vehicle.

It simply won't work.

[dispatch] [indistinct]

[Calvin speaking]

What the patrol guys did,

they formed a box outside of this neighborhood.

They set up Stop Sticks on Highway 42.

So no matter which way he goes,

he's gonna hit these Stop Sticks.

[Calvin speaking]

[Calvin] [indistinct] running eastbound over 25.

Soon as we hit Highway 42,

he started to really ramp up the speed.

[Calvin speaking]

[dispatch] [indistinct] here it comes.

[beeping]

[officer speaking]

[Calvin] It was perfect timing.

We're finally could be able to stop this big truck,

bring this pursuit to an end.

[Calvin speaking]

[dispatch] [indistinct]

[Calvin speaking]

[Billy] You assume that the vehicle,

at that point, is gonna start to slow down.

But in this case, the driver did the opposite.

[Calvin] We didn't get all tires

but three out of the six tires in the driver side.

[officer speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

I don't know he could hear me or not,

but it was worth a shot.

[Calvin speaking]

The driver got some confidence behind the wheel.

He started to push his luck

and he started to push that speed.

[officer speaking]

[dispatch] [indistinct]

[Craig] We were listening on the radio

and it was obvious

that the vehicle wasn't going to stop.

And we ran out to the helicopter

and got ready to fire it up.

Because when we are requested,

it's generally they need us now.

[sirens wailing]

[Calvin speaking]

[dispatch] [indistinct]

[Calvin] There was only one more red light

that he had to get through, then from there on out,

there is just not a whole lot out there.

[Billy] I really hope there's nobody else coming

because this guy doesn't wanna stop.

[cars honking]

[Calvin speaking]

Driving on his rim is even more dangerous.

[Calvin speaking]

[officer 1] [indistinct]

[officer 2 speaking]

[dispatch] Passing 272nd Court, still eastbound.

[siren wailing]

[officer speaking]

[Calvin] In that moment, I felt like

we were kind of at his mercy.

There were no Marion County deputies

to get ahead of his thing.

[officer speaking]

This is a busy intersection, major highway, major exchange,

a vehicle of this size and with no tires underneath,

it's like driving on ice.

So he does not have any control

of this large vehicle

as he's approaching this intersection.

[officer speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[Craig] With that U-Haul falling apart

out from under him,

you're thinking that this has got to end anytime now.

[Calvin speaking]

We've got to make a split second decision

to deploy our dog or not.

Could it be dangerous?

Of course.

Could he be armed? Of course.

[Calvin speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[officer] [indistinct]

[Calvin] The bailout unfortunately didn't work.

Jax never saw the driver bailing on foot.

I did proceed

to see if Jax would just naturally pick up

this driver's odor,

but we're going into super dark woods

and it's never good to just go running blindly

into the woods after a fugitive,

in case they're setting up an ambush.

[officer 1] Have somebody check the car.

What do you have?

[officer 2] Did somebody check the car?

[officer 1] Yeah.

[Billy] This person has led us on a very long pursuit.

Obviously, they're running for some reason.

We don't know what's behind this door.

[officer] [indistinct]

[sirens wailing]

[officer 1 speaking]

Come on.

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2] Both hands out.

[officer 1 speaking]

[Skylar] Nobody.

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 3 speaking]

[Billy] At this point, my thought is

what our deputies doing in the woods.

Are they okay?

[officer] Know where you're going.

I took four or five deputies with me into the woods.

I was very grateful the helicopter

was able to get up and get eyes over this thing.

[officer 1 speaking]

[officer 2 speaking]

Knowing the helicopter had the individual in sight

was a huge relief.

They're gonna be able to direct us straight to him.

We're just in the middle of the national forest,

so we don't know what's up ahead of us.

Is he armed?

[officer speaking]

[indistinct chatter]

[officer speaking]

[Calvin] Here.

Up.

-[officer speaking] -[Calvin] Straight ahead.

[Calvin speaking]

[officer] Left, left, left.

[Calvin] With us being so far out of county,

the radio reception was spotty.

My radio really wasn't working at all

so I was having to rely on other deputies

to tell me what the helicopter was saying.

[officer speaking]

[Craig] I am on him like ants on honey.

I am there. I am on him.

I'm not letting him go.

[officer speaking]

[Calvin] [indistinct] here.

[officer speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[officer] [indistinct]

[Calvin speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

Right here, right here, right here.

[Calvin speaking]

[officer 1] Show me your hands!

[Calvin speaking]

He had a weird look on his face.

I could not see his hands

and I was starting to get concerned.

Okay, this guy may have a weapon on him.

[Delvin] [indistinct]

[Calvin] Hey, hey [indistinct]

[Delvin speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[Delvin speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[Delvin speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Delvin speaking]

[officer] I got one in.

[Calvin speaking]

[Delvin speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[officer speaking]

Finally. It was just a sigh of relief.

Okay. We got this guy in handcuffs.

[Craig] We're done. We're clear.

And happy that we caught our guy.

[Calvin speaking]

[Delvin speaking]

[Calvin speaking]

[Delvin] [indistinct]

[Calvin speaking]

We were able to respond very well

to this incident as an agency.

But it's not every day

that somebody takes a U-Haul box

and leads us on a miles long pursuit.

[Calvin] Do we definitely believe it was them

that stole this motorcycle to begin with?

Absolutely.

Unfortunately, the bike was

not in the back of the U-Haul

in that timeframe.

They could've already gotten rid of the bike.

[officer speaking]

[Delvin speaking]

[officer speaking]

-[Delvin speaking] -[officer speaking]

[Delvin speaking]

[officer] [indistinct] straight ahead.

Straight ahead.

Marion County Sheriff's deputies are showing us video

of a chase with a runaway U-Haul truck.

On June 18th, deputy spotted the U-Haul truck

matching a description of one used

to steal a motorcycle.

The driver, 34-year-old Delvin Mark Brown,

and a passenger, 26-year-old Skylar Adkins,

were arrested on theft and drug charges.

[Calvin] I didn't expect this.

I mean, this was by far

the longest pursuit that I've been involved in.

I think that's what I like most about my job

is just you never know what each shift is gonna bring.

[police siren wailing]

[indistinct radio chatter]

[dramatic music playing]

I mean, you're talking about a Fast & Furious movie.

[gunshots blasting]

[crashing noises]

In my mind, I was ready for a shootout.

[gunshots blasting]