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NORA KOCHTarpon Springs and Pasco County officers say a man tried to drive, swim and run away before being captured.
TARPON SPRINGS - A hairdresser from New Port Richey was arrested Saturday after he led police on a two-county chase that ended after he jumped into a canal and swam out to a wooded island in the Anclote River.
Michael Shane Dirette, 34, was charged in Pasco County with grand theft auto, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence. Charges are pending from police in Tarpon Springs, where the chase began.
Dirette, who lives on Fall River Drive, was released Sunday afternoon after posting $1,550 bail.
About 2:30 a.m. Saturday, a Tarpon Springs officer tried to pull over a Ford Explorer at Lemon Street because a brake light was out, according to police reports.
When the cruiser's emergency lights went on, the Ford accelerated, drove through a stop sign and out of the officer's sight. A second Tarpon Springs officer saw the vehicle heading north on U.S. 19 with its headlights off, police said.
Police followed the Ford into Pasco County and onto Mile Stretch Road. At one point, both the Ford and a Tarpon Springs police cruiser ended up in the parking lot of a Baptist church. The driver of the Ford turned and headed directly at a Tarpon Springs police cruiser, causing the officer to move to avoid a collision, police said.
The Ford left the church lot and drove into a neighborhood, speeding through residential roads before stopping at a dead end. There, the Ford pulled into a yard and Dirette got out of the vehicle. An officer sprayed him in the face with pepper spray before Dirette jumped over the sea wall and into the Anclote River, according to the police report.
Dirette swam toward a small wooded island in the center of the river. The Tarpon Springs officer and a Pasco County sheriff's deputy borrowed a boat from a neighbor and traveled to the island.
The officers searched the swampy island for more than an hour with a police dog and a helicopter. Dirette was found hiding in some palmetto bushes, where he refused to surrender. He was subdued with a Taser weapon before he was arrested.
On the way to the jail, Dirette apologized and told police, "I ran because I was scared and didn't know what else to do," according to the police report. Dirette could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
The Ford belonged to Dirette's roommate, so Dirette was charged with grand theft auto.
Dirette is on probation for driving with a license that is suspended or revoked.
Times researcher Cathy Wos and staff writer Alex Leary contributed to this report. Nora Koch can be reached at 727 771-4304 or nkoch@sptimes.com