A man from Florida, United States jumped off a boat into the sea to avoid telling his girlfriend and police that his phone was his passport. According to reports, the man was trying to avoid arrest after being questioned by police on the boat. New York Post.
Bodycam footage from April in a YouTube video shows two female officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission questioning a man named AJ and his girlfriend on a boat somewhere in the waters near Key West. In the now-viral clip, AJ became extremely frustrated after arguing with police and his girlfriend on the phone and revealing his true identity before jumping into the ocean. He asked police what would happen if he “swam away” and then led police back to shore for seven minutes before being taken into custody.
According to the outlet, the incident happened after the couple was informed by two cops that they were looking for another vessel inside their jurisdiction, however, the man and his girlfriend were on a boat that had some code violations. The cops found that AJ was driving a boat that was violating several codes and neither he nor his girlfriend had any identification papers. Claiming that he had not done anything illegal, he asked the cops if they were “just trying to catch people breaking the law on the water?” Responding to this, an officer said, “Of course, we are addressing violations because we are the police and that’s our job.”
AJ then asked if they had a warrant. “Usually, when people start acting like this, it’s because they have a warrant,” an officer said, while his girlfriend told him to “calm down.” “You need to calm down… you’re panicking,” his girlfriend said.
AJ asked the police officers what would happen if he “jumped in the water and swam away.” One officer said, “I’m going to follow you. I’m telling you, you’re not free to go.”
As the man grew agitated, he told police he would “swim home.” Meanwhile, his girlfriend threatened to leave him if he jumped in the water. “AJ, I swear to God, if you jump in that water, I’ll leave tomorrow,” she said. The woman asked him to unlock his phone so she could call his boss. She asked, “What’s the password to your phone?” Upon hearing this, AJ then walked to the back corner of the ship and told police he wouldn’t go to jail today. His girlfriend walked toward him with his phone in her hand and urged him to unlock his phone. AJ jumped into the water, as he didn’t want to give his girlfriend access to his device or go to jail.
Police then tried to bring him back to the boat and arrest him, but AJ argued that he was “not resisting,” while his girlfriend kept demanding to know the passcode to his phone. His girlfriend yelled, “After this, I’m telling you, we’re done. I’m moving out!”
Two FWC officers followed AJ as he swam for seven minutes back to shore. They led him to the shoreline, where another policeman appeared to be waiting for him.
The clip has garnered over one million views on YouTube since it was shared.
One user said, “Dude would rather swim to land than give his girl his passcode.”
Another commented, “Brother was not worried about jail, he was worried about his phone being unlocked.”
One person said, “That girl was trying to use that opportunity to finally get the passcode to his phone.” A fourth person commented, “This is like mom, aunt and big sister trying to get little 5 year old Timmy out of the bath tub so they can all go back to playing cards.”
