12-29-2007, 02:31 AM
Pensacola News Journal
Arrest follows squirrelly story
Man taken into custody in connection with hit-and-run
Jamie Page
jepage@pnj.com
Strangely enough, a squirrel is to blame for a quiet Midway neighborhood being awakened Thursday to cop cars and an armed SWAT team.
That's what a Florida Highway Patrol trooper's response to a routine hit-and-run accident escalated into.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Scott Haines said Jeremiah Harrold Hatcher, who was inside his house on Hickory Shores Boulevard, was approached by an FHP officer about a hit-and-run off Catawba Drive behind Hatcher's house.
But police say Hatcher would not respond or answer the door.
Just as the trooper approached the house, an electrical transformer blew out, an explosion caused by a squirrel, which was electrocuted. The trooper thought it was a gunshot and called in the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's SWAT team, Haines said.
Negotiators were not able to make phone contact with Hatcher, so the SWAT team entered through the front door, which had been left open. Hatcher was taken into custody without incident and transported to Santa Rosa County Jail. His bond was set at $900.
No one was injured in the incident.
Hatcher, 22, was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.
Geraldine Lamb, who lives on Catawba Drive behind the home where Hatcher was arrested, said sometime during early morning hours a silver car struck her husband's pickup, which was sitting in front of her home.
The silver car sat near Hatcher's house. Damage to the car matched impact damage to the pickup and tire tracks in the dirt led from the pickup to the car.
So her husband, Mitch Lamb, reported the incident to authorities.
"They do speed through here a lot. I have asked them to slow down before," Geraldine Lamb said.
Hatcher was in his residence, which is behind his parents' Hickory Shores home, when troopers arrived. Hatcher's parents were out of town, neighbors said.
Hatcher uses the dirt road beside the Lambs' home to access the back of his parents' property, Lamb said.
A neighbor, Harry Buckles, was walking his dog about 7 a.m. when the FHP arrived at the house in the 4300 block of Hickory Shores Boulevard. A moment later, he heard the loud noise and thought it was a gun blast.
"I thought it was a shotgun," said Buckles, who was taking his morning walk at the time. "I got out of there. FHP was in the driveway, which kind of surprised me because you never see the Highway Patrol in this neighborhood, especially at this time of morning. By the time I got back home I could hear sirens, then (police) just kept piling up."
Arrest follows squirrelly story
Man taken into custody in connection with hit-and-run
Jamie Page
jepage@pnj.com
Strangely enough, a squirrel is to blame for a quiet Midway neighborhood being awakened Thursday to cop cars and an armed SWAT team.
That's what a Florida Highway Patrol trooper's response to a routine hit-and-run accident escalated into.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Scott Haines said Jeremiah Harrold Hatcher, who was inside his house on Hickory Shores Boulevard, was approached by an FHP officer about a hit-and-run off Catawba Drive behind Hatcher's house.
But police say Hatcher would not respond or answer the door.
Just as the trooper approached the house, an electrical transformer blew out, an explosion caused by a squirrel, which was electrocuted. The trooper thought it was a gunshot and called in the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's SWAT team, Haines said.
Negotiators were not able to make phone contact with Hatcher, so the SWAT team entered through the front door, which had been left open. Hatcher was taken into custody without incident and transported to Santa Rosa County Jail. His bond was set at $900.
No one was injured in the incident.
Hatcher, 22, was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.
Geraldine Lamb, who lives on Catawba Drive behind the home where Hatcher was arrested, said sometime during early morning hours a silver car struck her husband's pickup, which was sitting in front of her home.
The silver car sat near Hatcher's house. Damage to the car matched impact damage to the pickup and tire tracks in the dirt led from the pickup to the car.
So her husband, Mitch Lamb, reported the incident to authorities.
"They do speed through here a lot. I have asked them to slow down before," Geraldine Lamb said.
Hatcher was in his residence, which is behind his parents' Hickory Shores home, when troopers arrived. Hatcher's parents were out of town, neighbors said.
Hatcher uses the dirt road beside the Lambs' home to access the back of his parents' property, Lamb said.
A neighbor, Harry Buckles, was walking his dog about 7 a.m. when the FHP arrived at the house in the 4300 block of Hickory Shores Boulevard. A moment later, he heard the loud noise and thought it was a gun blast.
"I thought it was a shotgun," said Buckles, who was taking his morning walk at the time. "I got out of there. FHP was in the driveway, which kind of surprised me because you never see the Highway Patrol in this neighborhood, especially at this time of morning. By the time I got back home I could hear sirens, then (police) just kept piling up."