Police in Ormond Beach, Florida were able to apprehend an alleged Jet Ski thief on Sunday, thanks to the help of some nearby residents.
In a Facebook post on Monday, the Volusia County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office said it responded to a report of a stolen personal watercraft around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The post said the alleged thief, 48-year-old Ronald Williams, was unable to start the machine he was trying to steal. Nonetheless, he stole the watercraft and began floating away on it.
“Nearby, a family was about to head out on the water for the afternoon, but instead they allowed deputies to take their boat over to the suspect, who was still floating in the Intracoastal Waterway trying to get the Jet Ski started,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
In a video included in the Facebook post, deputies can be seen asking the family to bring them out on the water so they can apprehend the subject. One of the family members then made an even better offer.
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“You wanna take the boat?” the man asked. “You can take it and come back.”
The video then showed the deputies speeding out into the Intracoastal Waterway, where they approach the alleged thief on the watercraft. After instructing the man to put his hands in the air, one deputy told him to swim to the deputies’ boat.
The alleged criminal said he was unable to do so because he did not know how to swim, which elicited a response from another deputy.
Does this story give you hope for the relationship between communities and their law enforcement officers?
“So you’re gonna take a Jet Ski and you don’t know how to swim?” the deputy asked incredulously.
The officers eventually threw the man a rope and told him to tie it to the watercraft, and he complied. While the video did not show the actual arrest, the sheriff’s department wrote that the man was “taken into custody without incident and the Jet Ski was returned to its owner.”
The video ended with deputies thanking the family who allowed them to take the boat. The man who originally offered the deputies the boat assured them, “Y’all did great.”
This interaction between deputies and community members is a perfect example of the way Americans ought to treat law enforcement officers.
Contrary to leftist belief, the vast majority of law enforcement officers are honorable public servants who have their communities’ best interest in mind. When community members work with them, they can ensure everyone stays safe and, in this case, is able to regain their property.
Sadly, many prominent leftists have spent the better part of the last two years frantically calling to defund the very departments that protect our communities.
Democrats claim they don’t support defunding the police.
Here is 7 minutes of Democrats saying, “DEFUND THE POLICE!”pic.twitter.com/Y7lwPAnEiw
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 3, 2022
In a world where voices like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush are often the loudest, it is refreshing to see positive stories about law enforcement and citizens working together for the community. That is exactly the sort of hope this story from Florida provides.
