Lit Florida Man Chugs Whiskey and Livestreams Wild Police Chase on Facebook Live

Ryan Stiles is the latest participant in a long, shameful line of 'Florida Man...' headlines.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Ryan Stiles faces charges of DUI, reckless driving, hit and run, and threatening a public servant after he livestreamed his police chase on Facebook Live Thursday afternoon. The video began circulating online over the weekend after Stiles led local police on a chase down the beach from Clearwater, Florida to Caladesi Island damaging at least one unoccupied vehicle in the process.

“We were very, extremely fortunate that we didn't lose any officers, nor did we lose any civilians,” said Clearwater Deputy Police Chief Donald Hall during a press conference after Stiles’ arrest.

Stiles' friend Sarah Lynn Wright told the Tampa Bay Times that Stiles was upset about an earlier meeting he had with a public defender regarding a previous charge of resisting arrest. According to Wright, when Stiles learned he would likely face jail time for the charge, he stormed out and drove to his girlfriend’s house. Stiles reportedly does not have a valid driving license. 

At approximately 4:30 p.m., Clearwater police began receiving calls from as far away as California when Facebook users spotted Stiles' video. The clip features him yelling, “We’re gonna goddamn die!” into his phone's camera while plowing over trash cans and chairs as beachgoers narrowly escape getting hit.

As the chase came to a close, Stiles faced the choice of either surrendering or driving his Jeep Cherokee into the water. The nearly five-minute-long clip ends with Stiles taking a swig of Canadian Mist whiskey and apparently choosing the former.

Wright, who offered Stiles a room in her house during some hard times, believes she knows what triggered the strange behavior.

“It's not out of character for him to get angry and storm off,” she told the Times. “I feel like he couldn’t handle the stress and that was it for him.”

Latest in Life