Trending

Spring break 2021: Handcuffed teen escapes police cruiser on Florida beach

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Florida teen was arrested a second time Wednesday after running handcuffed along the beach, having escaped from a police cruiser when someone opened the back door to the vehicle as officers dealt with unruly spring break crowds.

>> Read more trending news

The great spring break escape did not last long for Dominic Glass, 18, who was taken into custody again shortly after a widely viewed video showed him running with his hands cuffed behind his back down Clearwater Beach.

“Everybody thinks it’s funny, everybody thinks it’s a joke. This is not a joke,” Rob Shaw, police spokesman, told WFLA. “I mean, these are unruly people out there behaving in inappropriate ways on the beach.”

>> Spring break 2021: 100 arrested as crowds flock to Miami Beach despite pandemic

Officers were dealing with disorderly conduct issues involving crowds of young beachgoers when a fight started around 6:53 p.m., the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Officers separated the crowds and took Glass into custody and placed him in the back of an SUV. While an officer walks around to the driver side, someone opens the back door and Glass runs out, the video shows.

A crowd runs and cheers as Glass makes his dash. He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and escape.

Ultimately, 26 officers responded and made four arrests at the beach including one person who was charged with battery on a police officer, WTVT reported.

A fifth person, Adam Asad, 18, of Oldsmar, was arrested Thursday and charged with aiding escape and resisting arrest without violence, WTVT reported.

Investigators said Asad reportedly wrote, “I opened that door lol” on social media, the Times reported.

“While many of the young adults in the video think this is funny, it has turned what would have been a very minor violation to one that will have severe consequences,” Clearwater Police Chief Dan Slaughter told WTVT.