Man arrested after jumping into canal to elude police

PLANTATION, Fla. (WSVN) -- A suspect who lead police on a chase tried to slip away by jumping into a canal, but he would not get far.

Lauderhill Police arrested 39-year-old Scott Sherman from Oakland Park after he bailed out of his pickup truck and dove into the canal below the Pine Island Road bridge, just before Interstate 595, late Monday afternoon. "I was sitting at the red light. I saw flashing lights behind me, so we tried to get out of the way," said witness Stephanie Wiggins. "The truck was in this right lane and hit the car in front of him ... and as he was rolling he jumped out of his car and ran to the bridge and to the water."

After treading water as police gathered at the banks of the canal, Sherman swam to shore and into police custody without incident. The chase began in Lauderhill when witnesses called police shortly after 4 p.m. to report the pickup driving erratically and a couple inside arguing. A police pursuit then ensued.

Sherman would abandon his white pickup truck northbound on Pine Island with a woman still inside by jumping off the bridge and into the water. Police later talked with him from the shore of the canal and coaxed him out. He backed out with hands behind his back, and police cuffed him.

Police had also cuffed the woman he left in the pickup truck, as they tried to sort out what had happened. The relationship between the two was not immediately known, but the altercation that lead to the chase seemed to be domestic in origin.

Sherman allegedly clipped several cars during the chase and was driving with a suspended license. Several charges remain pending while Lauderhill Police continue interviewing him.

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