A Delray Beach man ran from police, jumped a fence, skipped across all lanes of Interstate 95, hopped a medium, ran up a ramp, dove into a canal, was Tased by cops, then tried to steal a police car before (phew!) being apprehended, according to police.
It all started Saturday when police said Arthur Lee Harmon, 35, tried to steal tools from Palm Beach Atlantic University. Apparently, there were no serious injuries suffered during the chase.
Harmon is facing several charges after his alleged attempt to grab landscaping tools and equipment at the university’s Sports Park in downtown West Palm Beach. When police arrived, he led them on a long foot chase that included running across I-95 and jumping off a 30-foot wall.
He faces three counts of vehicle theft and one count each of resisting arrest with violence, resisting arrest without violence, grand theft between $300 and $5,000, and burglary. He is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail on $100,000 bail.
A West Palm Beach police officer was on routine patrol when he saw Harmon cutting into a chain-link fence at 3401 Parker Ave., the report said. Once he saw the officer, Harmon took off running.
Harmon ran across Southern Boulevard, into Dreyer Park, then over a fence and out of the park before reaching I-95 with police in hot pursuit. He ran across the northbound lanes of I-95, jumped over the medium, crossed the southbound lanes and then ran up the southbound entrance ramp to Southern Boulevard.
Harmon followed by hopping from an estimated 30-foot wall and jumping into a canal before he was confronted by a police officer. The report said that Harmon attempted to hit the officer, who deployed his Taser. Harmon was not slowed by the Taser strike and began fighting with the officer, before breaking free while attempting to steal the officer’s patrol car.
Unable to gain entry into the patrol car, Harmon tried to flee again, but was apprehended. Harmon is accused of attempting to steal $18,659 worth of vehicles and tools.
Court records show that Harmon has been arrested 17 times since 2000 in Palm Beach County and was handed a 26-month prison sentence in December 2005 for a series of arrests on charges that included aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft.