JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man who police said was caught breaking into cars at a local dealership on Jacksonville’s Westside drowned in a retention pond Tuesday morning after running from police, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
JSO Lt. Marc Musser said officers were called to the dealership around 3:15 a.m. after cameras on the property alerted the dealership’s security that the man was messing with the cars.
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The security team called police, and when an officer found the man on the property on Pickettville Road just west of I-295, he told the man repeatedly to surrender, Musser said.
When the man refused, the officer tried to use his stun gun, but Musser said it appeared the man was wearing a large coat and the probes didn’t make contact.
The man ran off, and the officer chased him. Musser said the man jumped a nearby fence and then jumped into a small retention pond.
JSO said the officers at the scene tried to throw flotation devices into the pond to help the man, but he never resurfaced after going under.
“He just went into the water. I don’t know what his abilities were at that point, but quickly went under is what our understanding is,” Musser said.
The JSO Dive Team recovered the man’s body from the bottom of the pond, and he was taken to the Medical Examiner.
Musser said investigators were processing the vehicles on the property, and the man has not yet been identified.