Man jumps in pond to flee cops, then collapses on shore and dies, Florida cops say

A man fled cops by jumping in a pond, but he collapsed and died after he was taken into custody, Florida deputies said.

The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office was trying to serve a warrant for the arrest of 43-year-old Justin Hogg the afternoon of Sept. 7, deputies said in a Sept. 8 news release.

They drove into a private community on a one-lane dirt road when they said they saw Hogg driving toward them in a Chevrolet Tahoe.

The deputies tried to pull him over, but they said he drove around one patrol vehicle and “rammed” the second one. Hogg’s SUV veered off the road into a ditch, then he got out, jumped into a nearby pond and started swimming, according to deputies.

The two deputies said they swam through the pond and grabbed Hogg, then they brought him back to shore. As they waited for medical personnel to arrive, Hogg collapsed to the ground, deputies said.

First responders arrived at nearly the same time he suffered the medical emergency, and they began life-saving procedures, deputies said.

He died at a hospital.

A medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine Hogg’s cause of death. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.

Bradford County is in north Florida, about a 50-mile drive southwest from Jacksonville.