Suncoast: Fleeing from deputies is never a good idea.

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

 

MCSO: Fleeing from deputies is never a good idea. A driver learned that lesson this week with the help of the MCSO Aviation Unit. This video captured by our helicopter says it all.

 

On Thursday (3/3/22) at around 1 a.m., deputies located a truck driving without headlights on the wrong side of the road on Harrison Ranch Blvd. When they attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the vehicle fled. The Aviation Unit responded and followed the truck as it ran through a fence at the Buffalo Creek Golf Course, then drove through the course and into a shallow pond. The driver, William Ballard (DOB: 2/2/1980), got out of the truck and waded through water into nearby brush and trees attempting to hide from deputies, but the Aviation Unit kept watch overhead and directed deputies on the ground right to him.

 

Ballard said he was fleeing because he thought he had a warrant for his arrest. He did not have an active warrant, but he was driving with a suspended license, and now faces more charges including Fleeing to Elude a Law Enforcement Officer at High Speed, a felony.