Authorities reported on Sunday that a Florida inmate staged a fall injury in a bid to escape, only to be dragged from the dense underbrush by a law enforcement K-9 while he screamed for help.
Anthony Romine, 29, was discovered in a wooded area near a gas station in Flagler County on Saturday after being tracked down by a K-9 unit from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the sheriff’s office, he was concealed beneath foliage and brush.
The capture occurred seven hours after his escape. Surveillance footage of the arrest shows the K-9 pulling Romine, who was crying out in pain.
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Anthony Romine, 29, was apprehended in a wooded area hours after he allegedly pretended to be injured and escaped from law enforcement in Florida. (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)
The footage seemingly shows the dog pulling Romine by the arm.
“Please get him!” he can be heard pleading with deputies, who continually warned Romine to “stop biting my dog!”
“Alright, I’m coming out,” Romine responds.
At one moment, he appears to be in tears when a deputy questions: “Did you honestly think you could get away?” During his short-lived escape, authorities received several calls reporting potential sightings of Romine, according to the sheriff’s office.
Romine had initially been arrested on July 3 for a felony warrant related to petty theft, violating his pre-trial release, and counterfeiting. While in custody, he claimed to have fallen and was subsequently taken to the hospital for treatment, as stated by the sheriff’s office.
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Investigators later determined that Romine had faked his injury as part of his escape plan to return to his home state of Ohio, authorities indicated.
“We worked tirelessly to bring him in. I commend our team for staying on his trail, and the community for ‘seeing something, saying something’ until this criminal was apprehended,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “All he succeeded in doing was adding to his list of crimes and getting bitten by our K-9, who will get a special treat for ‘taking a bite out of crime’ as he attempted to flee again. Thankfully, no one was harmed except for this criminal, who was left in tears after being captured by our K-9.”
Anthony Romine, 29, is pictured after his capture and before his escape on security footage. (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)
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Following his capture, the charge of felony escape was added to Romine’s list of criminal offenses, along with battery against a law enforcement officer without violence.
Sheriff Staly announced an investigation will be launched to ascertain how the deputy assigned to Romine became distracted, leading to the escape.
