Police: naked man steals JSO cruiser, crashes in wooded area off I-10

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —

Thursday was a busy day for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office after police say a naked man stole an officer’s cruiser and crashed it. JSO says it happened Thursday morning on I-10 near Chaffee.

Police say an officer saw a naked man lying unresponsive on I-10. When he stopped to help, police say the man became combative and started fighting the officer.

Police say the man jumped in the officer’s cruiser and drove off, driving westbound in the eastbound lanes for about five miles before crossing the interstate and crashing into a wooded area on the westbound side of the interstate.

“This is a very unusual situation,” JSO Assistant Chief Ellis Burns said. “He drove recklessly from what we were told by witnesses, all the way down the interstate.”

Action News Jax asked JSO if the suspect was on drugs.

“He exhibited signs of what we call delirium, like superhuman strength almost, and that was abnormal behavior, so there’s a possibility, and all that will be investigated,” Burns answered.

Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson say the suspect’s intent will determine how much trouble he’s in.

“In a circumstance where law enforcement responds to a person wandering around with no clothes on, typically there’s an assumption that the individual’s not in their right mind.”

Carson said, adding that it’s a different story if a person voluntarily takes mind-altering substances.

“In the state of Florida it’s no longer an excuse to be drunk ... If you intentionally become incapacitated or crazy as a result of taking drugs, generally the court’s going to make you responsible for that ... If that is true that they’re not in their right mind, typically they’re not going to suffer any extreme consequences because it’s understood that the person couldn’t have the intent to actually commit a criminal act, because they were not in their right mind.”

JSO tells me the naked man is in the hospital.
— Stephanie Bennett (@StephanieANJax) January 21, 2021

Burns says the incident could’ve been much worse.

He added, “thank God (that nobody was injured)”.

Action News Jax reached out to JSO for dashcam and bodycam footage, along with JSO’s protocol when it comes to officers leaving doors of their cruisers unlocked.

Action News Jax will update this story when we get that information.