A FLORIDA man swam to an island off the state’s coast in an attempt to flee from police.
Jeriel Joiner was arrested after cops tracked him down to an island on the Intracoastal Waterway, where they say he swam while trying to escape from police.
During a public altercation with his girlfriend, Joiner allegedly hit her with a bottle of alcohol he had been drinking on Sunday, June 23, according to a Facebook post by Port Orange police.
“He hit me in the eye with a bottle of Vodka,” Joiner’s unidentified girlfriend can be heard telling police in body camera footage.
“He said he poured it out, but I know he drank it,” she told police.
She also told police that Joiner told her that “the devil wanted him to kill me.”
After striking her, Joiner then reportedly started to choke his girlfriend with both hands before she was able to free herself and running away.
But Joiner chased her, eventually catching her and this time, wrapping a rope around her neck and choking her more.
The unidentified girlfriend also is believed to have broken her arm during the incident, according to police.
Bystanders who saw the situation unfold jumped into action and eventually pinned Joiner to the ground before he got up and ran away.
Shortly after fleeing on foot, Joiner jumped into the water and started swimming along the Intracoastal Waterway and made his way to a small island on the state’s Atlantic coast.
Police body camera footage shows them arriving to the island alongside Florida Fish and Wildlife by boat.
After several hours and the sun set, police found a tent in the wilderness and decided to check if Joiner was inside.
In their body-cam footage, police can be seen approaching the tent with guns drawn and flashlights out.
After identifying themselves as police, cops then opened the tent and ordered Joiner out before arresting him as he slept inside.
Before the video ends, police are seen putting Joiner in a life jacket to be transported from the small island back to mainland Florida.
Joiner was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, domestic battery by strangulation and felony battery.
Although police say witnesses had to intervene to stop Joiner from further harming his girlfriend, some people who claimed to know Joiner say they believe his girlfriend is lying about the incident.
“I know JJ and I know that girl she done this many times,” said one person under the police department’s Facebook post.
“That girl lies, she gets drunk and gets combative and calls the police to says somebody hits but her she’s the one that should be in jail,” the comment continued.
The U.S. Sun has attempted to get in contact with Joiner’s attorney.