Ryan Stiles, angry about a meeting with a public defender over a past criminal charge, decided to deal with it by driving his Jeep down a Florida beach, downing whiskey, and filming the whole thing on Facebook Live. It sounds like something out of a great American car chase movie like The Blues Brothers or maybe Baby Driver, but in reality it’s lucky no one was hurt or killed.
It all started when Stiles wasn’t offered probation for a previous charge of resisting arrest. He came home, ranted to his roommate, and told his girlfriend he was going to come over to her place. Apparently he decided the best route to take was down the beach toward Caladesi Island while swigging Canadian Mist and describing his journey to whichever viewers tuned in to his live stream on Facebook. “Crash parade, bro!” he cried as he mowed down some beach chairs.
These are some of the chairs the suspect drove through on north beach at the end of Bohemia. Thankfully, no injuries. pic.twitter.com/jdsmprhGe3
— Clearwater Police Department (@myclearwaterPD) July 20, 2017
Deputy Chief Hall addresses the media about the reckless driver on the beach. pic.twitter.com/dcymm99lHd
— Clearwater Police Department (@myclearwaterPD) July 20, 2017
911 calls were pouring in as Stiles went down Clearwater Beach with police cars in hot pursuit. Beach goers were alarmed, and one mother described dragging her child away from the path of the oncoming Jeep. “We’re lucky we were awake and alert,” she told the news. Fortunately, the whole incident ended after only nine minutes and police were able to arrest Stiles. Bystanders also captured a short clip of the chase from the water.
He didn’t calm down at the station though—reports indicate he began swinging his belt around and broke a window while he was being booked. Eventually he was subdued and charged with obstructing or resisting an officer without violence, threatening a public servant, driving while license is suspended (one prior), criminal mischief, flee or elude (high speed/wanton disregard, driving under the influence, leaving the scene of a crash involving property, and reckless driving. That’s almost one charge per minute of chase time.
Here's the jail mug shot for Ryan Stiles made available recently by @SheriffPinellas — he's being held behind bars with no bond. pic.twitter.com/GexNWnRm9Q
— Clearwater Police Department (@myclearwaterPD) July 22, 2017
This isn’t the first time that Facebook Live has been used to broadcast a crime. It’s happened enough times that even Facebook admits it could do a better job of keeping criminals from sharing all sorts of wrongs done, including high speed joy riding, grisly murders, cruel torture, and gang rapes through its streaming service. Last year, Korryn Gaines posted videos to Facebook and Instagram documenting a standoff with police that ended in her death. Because Facebook relies on users to flag inappropriate content, it can take hours to discover and remove videos.
(Via WFLA & New York Daily News)