An unlucky criminal is in the hospital and is expected to face charges after a chase he had nothing to do with.
According to a news release, the driver of a Jeep Cherokee led deputies on a chase around 3 a.m. Thursday morning before stopping at a 7-Eleven located at 1001 301 Highway South.
When a deputy pulled behind the jeep, a man, later identified as 42-year-old Arthur Perkins got out of the jeep and ran away. His passenger stayed behind to cooperate with investigators. Perkins has not been located and we still don’t know why he ran.
While deputies were looking for Perkins, they encountered a man who matched his description, but he was really Michael Harris, a Valrico man who happens to have outstanding warrants for his arrest for violating parole. Thinking the deputies were after him, Harris fled the scene and ran into a wooded and swampy area.
He was found two hours later hiding in a creek. Deputies said he was soaking wet and in a hypothermic state. Investigators suspect he ingested an unknown amount of methamphetamine before he was found.
Paramedics were unable to access the scene to render aid, so two Hillsborough deputies immersed themselves in the water and mud up to their chest and carried Harris more than a quarter mile to the nearest address where they were met by paramedics. Harris was taken to a nearby hospital. His current condition is unknown.
He faces charges of Fraud Use of Credit Card VOP, Burglary Unoccupied Conveyance VOP, Possession Controlled Substance VOP, Grand Theft 3rd Degree VOP.
Perkins faces a charge of Resisting an Officer without Violence.
No further details are available at this time.
