Pinellas deputy jumps onto empty boat going over 40 mph, stops it from running
By: A Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputy donned a Tom Cruise hat Sunday while out on the water as he jumped onto a runaway boat to stop it from driving.
In a video posted by the sheriff's office on Facebook, body camera shows Deputy Constant with Deputy Fernandes on a boat — both of whom are with the Marine and Environment Lands Unit —when they responded to a call to help the U.S. Coast Guard with a runaway boat.
Authorities say the boat initially had a man on and driving it, but he had fallen off. Luckily, he was reportedly rescued by a good Samaritan.
However, the boat kept on driving with no one on there, posing a danger to whichever direction it was heading, deputies say.
The USCG tried to deploy prop fowling devices to stop the boat, but ultimately failed.
That's when Constant sped up his boat and drove side by side with the runaway boat at 41 mph, giving it enough space for Fernandes to safely jump onto the runaway vessel and control it, the sheriff's office says.
"And yes, Deputy Fernandes does his own stunts," the agency wrote in the Facebook post. "If you don't want this to happen to you... always connect your kill switch lanyard."
In the video, the runaway boat is seen driving in a curve-like direction, but once Fernandes is able to get on it, he quickly turned it off.
Deputies then tied the boat to theirs and brought it back to shore.