By Jamal Thalji
Tampa Bay Times
CLEARWATER — The TikTok star du jour is a handcuffed Pasco County man seen escaping from the back of a Clearwater police SUV and running away on the beach while spring breakers cheer him on.
Oh no, oh no. Oh no no no no no.
He didn’t get far. Dominic Glass, 18, of Land O’ Lakes was taken into custody for a second time Wednesday evening. He was one of four arrests made as Clearwater police said more than a dozen officers dealt with an unruly crowd on Clearwater Beach.
There will soon be a fifth arrest: Police said they identified the person who opened the SUV door and plan to arrest them. A TikToker claimed responsibility for that in another video, writing “I opened that door lol.”
The original TikTok video of the fleeing, handcuffed man garnered nearly 800,000 likes by Thursday.
Clearwater police said officers were dealing with “disorderly conduct issues” involving a large crowd when a fight broke out at about 6:53 p.m. The officers said the young crowd was “non-compliant” and resisting efforts to “de-escalate the situation.”
While separating two groups, officers said they took a man into custody and placed him in the right rear of the SUV. But as officers walked to the left driver’s side, the TikTok video shows someone pulling on the right rear door handle and opening it.
The handcuffed man makes a break for it while dozens of spring breakers chase after him. They laugh and cheer and, of course, hold up their phones.
Glass was arrested on charges of escape, disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence. Clearwater police did not name the other three arrested, but said one of them assaulted an officer. Bail information for Glass was not available late Thursday.
(c)2021 the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.)