VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Melbourne man wanted by U.S. Marshals led law enforcement on a chase through Volusia County that ended with him being pulled from a river by the Coast Guard.
According to the sheriff’s office, a Daytona Beach police officer working with the U.S. Marshals first spotted 51-year-old Edward Sotelo driving on Interstate-95 in Port Orange Wednesday afternoon.
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Sotelo had an active warrant on him for violating his probation from a previous armed bank robbery as well as warrants out of Orange County for grand theft and fleeing from law enforcement.
According to his arrest report, Sotelo was also a suspect in several copper thefts in the area and was presumed to be headed to a local Home Depot, so a plan was made to take him into custody there.
Deputies say once Sotelo likely realized he was being followed, he took off, at one point appearing to intentionally collide with one officer’s patrol vehicle head-on in an attempt to escape.
The sheriff’s office released dashcam and bodycam video showing Sotelo pinned from the front and back of his vehicle by law enforcement while still ramming them to try to escape.
Sotelo was eventually able to break free and continue into Edgewater.
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According to the arrest report, Sotelo continued driving recklessly through Edgwater with “wanton disregard for other life on the roadway.”
Deputies say Sotelo eventually drove into a mobile home park in Edgewater, bailed from the vehicle, and jumped into the Intracoastal Waterway.
For the next 15 to 20 minutes, Sotelo swam away from deputies while trying to avoid arrest.
Sotelo eventually climbed onto a U.S. Coast Guard boat on his own and was taken into custody.
In addition to the warrants, Sotelo faces a list of charges that includes aggravated battery on law enforcement and aggravated fleeing and eluding.
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He’s being held in the Volusia County jail on no bond.
A woman who was in the vehicle with Sotelo was also arrested on warrants out of Brevard County.
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