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A man ran into the ocean to evade police after allegedly assaulting multiple people in the Venice Beach area early on Wednesday morning. The man is now in custody, reports NBC LA.
LAPD Officer Rosario Herrera told LAist that an assault or fight first broke out at approximately 6:50 a.m. this morning. According to a number of accounts on Twitter, the man may have attacked four or five people before entering the water. Photos of the suspect in the water show that he is not wearing a shirt, though it is unclear if he was shirtless during the attack, or just stripped down before attempting to flee into the Pacific Ocean.
#LAPD there was a fight on the beach; suspect wanted for battery. Lifeguards still trying to make contact. #Venice pic.twitter.com/ZY6E7QeXM2
— Jennifer Thang (@jenniferthang) August 3, 2016
Lifeguards and police officers tried to apprehend him, and he was eventually taken into custody after several officers waded into the shallow water, according to NBC LA. It also remains unclear if the suspect was inspired by Harrison Ford's dam jump in The Fugitive, though if that was the case, one would presume the whole thing would have been better executed.
The man was out of the great blue sea and in custody by 8:47 a.m., according to a tweet from KTLA reporter Ginger Chan.