Sheriff Keith Pearson of Florida’s St. Lucie County is going viral for the latest in a string of hilarious videos, which highlights a deranged perp who curses at him throughout the clip.
“Earlier today, Elijah thought he was gonna drive through St. Lucie county in a stolen vehicle and get into a car crash,” Pearson said in a video posted to the St. Lucie Sheriff’s Instagram on Monday. “Working closely with the Florida Highway Patrol, not only on sea but on land, Elijah is now in custody. Our message is this, to criminals…”
Pearson then points to a deputy, who finishes the sentence: “Not in St. Lucie.”
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The perp, 18-year-old Elijah Norton, curses at Pearson, barking out “stupid ass,” “you a bitch” and “fuck you” throughout the video. He “was arrested and charged with nine counts, including Grand Theft Using Vehicle To Damage Property and Obstruction with Violence, according to the St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office.
Pearson, who was appointed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in December, has made ample use of his department’s social media accounts, posting zany and comical videos to Instagram, including a series of videos called “Find Out Friday,” presumably a play on the popular phrase “fuck around and find out.”
He’s also highlighted a series he calls “Turn Yourself In Tuesday,” which features videos of perps who either surrenders themselves to deputies or failed to do so. “If you don’t want to be Facebook famous, come on down to 900 North Rock Road and turn yourself in,” he says in one edition of the series.
My favorite, though, is this video in which he asks an arrestee what he thought of their modified Dodge Charger after the suspect failed to outrun it.
“Hey, what’d you think? Good?” he asks the perp, who’s cuffed and hanging his head as he leans up against his vehicle.
“Yeah, no comment” Pearson jokes.
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Ahhhh that’s good stuff. “Yeah, no comment.” That made me chuckle.
Pearson, an obvious American hero, is making great use of the digital tools at his command to turn criminals into laughingstocks and just generally amuse the rest of us.
I love it, and I patiently await the next Find Out Friday to see who’s effing around and who’s finding out.