A man wanted on various charges in two states jumped into a lake in North Carolina and pretended to not know how to swim in a failed attempt to get away from law enforcement.
On Thursday, suspect Edward Devin Estes fled from the cops and jumped into Lake Gaston in Littleton, 70 miles northeast of Raleigh and near the Virginia border. Mr. Estes then began swimming away before calling for help, claiming he couldn’t swim, the Halifax County Sheriff’s office said.
A responding officer jumped in to save the suspect and “a miracle happened,” the sheriff’s office said. Mr. Estes, wanted on warrants from North Carolina and Virginia, “instantly learned how to swim and swam towards land to avoid arrest.”
The officer caught up and caught Mr. Estes, taking him into custody.
He was served with warrants charging him with two felony counts of possession of stolen goods, a count of felony larceny and two counts of misdemeanor larceny.
Mr. Estes was taken to the Halifax County Detention Center on a $9,000 bond and will be extradited to Virginia.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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