MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Police aerial chase video shows the times a 42-year-old man crashed his car into a golf course pond early Thursday morning, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office .
Deputies said the driver, William Ballard, 42, was spotted driving a van on the wrong side of the road without headlights at around 1am on Thursday. When the deputies tried to carry out a traffic check, the truck fled.
The MCSO Aviation Unit responded and tracked the truck as it ran through a fence at Buffalo Creek Golf Course and then plunged into a shallow pond.
Deputies said Ballard then got out of the truck and waded through water in a nearby patch of brush and trees. Authorities said the aviation unit managed to keep Ballard in sight through the use of a thermal imaging camera.
“Ballard said he was fleeing because he thought he had a warrant for his arrest,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post. “He had no active warrant.”
Deputies said Ballard was driving with a suspended license. He now faces felony charges, including fleeing from a high-speed law enforcement officer.
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