A Florida man ended up stuck in mud Friday after trying to steal $800 in Champagne from a Publix Super Market, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said.
Enrique Fernandez, 42, tried to walk out of the store without paying for a cartful of bottles, the sheriff’s office said. He climbed into a waiting vehicle, which fled from the store’s parking lot, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies stopped the vehicle and the driver got out immediately. Fernandez then jumped behind the wheel and drove away, making it as far as Interstate 95 before he was captured again, the sheriff’s office said.
“He didn’t anticipate the median to be layered with mud. As soon as the car hit the grass, it sunk, and Fernandez was stuck,” the sheriff’s office said on its Facebook page.
Deputies arrested Fernandez — whom the sheriff says also uses the names Ricardo Betanqure and David Delgado — and charged him with grand theft, fleeing and eluding, and giving a false name. Martin County detectives also determined Fernandez was wanted on St. Lucie County warrants for felony retail theft, organized fraud, dealing in stolen property and grand theft.
Fernandez was being held at the Martin County Jail late Friday in lieu of $120,000 bail.
About the Author
