Man claims he is an owl to avoid a DUI

I am sure that this worked. A Massachusetts man did not give a hoot about logic after he led police on a long chase…

37-year-old Troy Prockett was arrested and charged with multiple offenses this week including felony DUI, resisting arrest, leaving the scene of an accident with property damages and numerous traffic citations. How he got there made for an interesting story…

Per the police report, a state trooper was driving on I-290 in the evening when he saw a car, driven by Prockett, spinning out of control between travel lanes. The car eventually spun out of control, crashing into a snowbank and coming to rest between the first and second lane of traffic.

The state trooper testified that three other vehicles had to swerve out of the way of the suspect to avoid being hit. The trooper responded by turning on his lights and siren.

The suspect, now driving a heavily damaged car, proceeded to pull out of the road into oncoming traffic and drove almost a mile in the breakdown lane…with the trooper in hot pursuit.

The car eventually did stop but only so the suspect could jump out of the driver’s seat and run off into the woods. The defendant was not a master criminal as the trooper found his wallet still in the car and started tracking him thorugh the snow by following his footprints.

With the help of a K9 unit, the man was found after a hour of searching in single digit temperature. The man was found in a tree and gave a very slurred defense to his fleeing and eluding.

Prockett began speaking in a slurred speech, claiming that he was an owl. He also asked officers if they caught the guy who was driving his vehicle, even as he started climbing higher up the tree. When police pointed out that there was only one set of footprints in the snow, the man changed stories and claimed that he was carried by the mysterious driver. Per the police report, the suspect then
“continued speaking about what a good guy he was and rambling on about being an owl in a tree. “He continually refused commands to climb down and instead climbed even higher, shaking the branches and saying, ‘Look it’s snowing.'”

Police on the scene received new information that the suspects daughter was riding with him during the accident. The drunken man did not calm their fears, rather he admitted having a daughter but gave false information as to where she was.

Police eventually had to call in the fire department to “rescue” the tree climber as well as cut down tree branches. Police also used a thermal imaging unit in an attempt to search for the girl, only to later learn that she was safe.

This was not Procketts’ first brush with the law. The man admitted running from the police because this was his third DUI. As of this writing, the man had made bail and was released.

Have you or a loved one been arrested for a DUI or fleeing and eluding? Then call the Pinellas DUI defense lawyers at Blake & Dorsten, P.A. today! These former prosecutors are experienced trial attorneys.

The lawyers of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. handles all criminal defense and personal injury cases throughout the Gulf Coast of Florida including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, Citrus and Polk counties.

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