A man gripping a bottle of liquor from behind the steering wheel of a reckless jeep that sped from Clearwater to Caladesi, FL on Thursday [July 20] was arrested at the conclusion of the destructive ride-turned police chase.
Authorities reportedly received calls from random people living as far away as California, who had come upon a Facebook Live stream of 27-year-old Ryan Stiles filming himself throughout the dangerous run. Fifteen minutes after receiving an initial call (4:26 pm) reporting Stiles on U.S. 19, he was seen entering Clearwater Water Beach. Stiles would mow down beach chairs and umbrellas and even came close to running over a few people enjoying the weather. He'd eventually clip a vehicle east of Island Way, according to reports, but the chase ended without any injuries or major accidents, say police.
Stiles was nabbed about nine minutes after police began to trail him. Officers had been prepared to go the most tragic route to stop Stiles, after it was reported that he had threatened to "take out" one of the police cruisers. "We were very, extremely fortunate that we didn't lose any officers, nor did we lose any civilians," Deputy Chief Donald Hall said.
