The man’s wife had to climb over the console to regain control of the still-moving vehicle, which also had their three minor children inside, after he jumped out onto the highway.
Police found themselves in the middle of a wild and unpredictable situation on Monday after they received a call from a child who told them she was in a car with her parents, who were fighting while traveling on Highway 79 in Florida, per NBC affiliate WFLA, Law&Crime, and People.
She was able to provide a description of the vehicle and then the call disconnected, per a release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, and so deputies responded to the area in a search for the vehicle. When one deputy found a vehicle matching the description, they turned on their lights and sirens, and that’s when things went awry.
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At first, it appeared that the driver was just going to ignore the deputy behind him, as he just continued traveling northbound on the highway. But then, according to the release, “the driver opened the driver’s door and jumped from the moving vehicle.”
The deputy immediately stopped and quickly apprehended the driver, who was later identified as Albert Dale Searcy, 46. The vehicle, meanwhile, was continuing to travel northbound with no one behind the wheel.
According to the release, the man’s wife, Heather Searcy, was able to climb over the center console of the vehicle and gained control of the vehicle, bringing it to a stop. Inside the vehicle were the couple’s three minor children, the sheriff’s office notes.
When responding deputies made contact with Heather, they noted “signs consistent with a physical altercation, including apparent injuries to her face.” She told officers, per the release, that she had requested her husband stop and let her and the kids out, but he “repeatedly refused to do so.”
Additionally, she said that when he discovered that their daughter had called 911, “he struck the child and took the phone away,” offering an explanation for why that phone call was cut off so abruptly.
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When Heather spoke with deputies, she told them that the family had recently moved to the Florida Panhandle area from Louisiana and “were in the process of returning there at the time of the incident.” There is no permanent address listed on Albert’s booking file with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Despite the scare, all persons involved were cleared by emergency medical services. Albert Searcy was subsequently charged with tampering with or harassing a witness, domestic violence battery, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest without violence, child abuse, false imprisonment, and driving while license suspended or revoked.
Albert Searcy remains Washington County Jail and is awaiting his time in court.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages; Calls are confidential and toll-free.
If you are experiencing or witness child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
