Santa Rosa County Drug Operation
By Jamie Burch
Published: Thu, March 20, 2008 - 10:52 am
Last Updated: Thu, March 20, 2008 - 5:57 pm
Last Updated: Thu, March 20, 2008 - 5:57 pm
After his arrest, Eugene Smith told deputies he got the pepper spray in Houston and that he planned his escape.
Smith spent last night in an abandonned trailer.
Today, deputies revealed that Smith has an alias. Clifford Eugene Baker.
Smith was originally wanted on identity theft charges. Now he's charged with escape, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, and grand theft auto.
3:09 p.m.
News 5 obtained a copy of surveillance video that shows Eugene Smith's escape, from pepper spraying a deputy to stealing his patrol car. Don't miss it tonight on News 5 at 5:00.
11:09 a.m.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office releases new mug shot of Eugene Smith.
10:52 a.m.
Police have arrested a cross dressing prisoner who pepper sprayed a deputy in the face and stole his patrol car.
A driver spotted Eugene Smith trying to hitch a ride on Highway 90 in Holt just before 9:00 a.m. Wednesday. Deputies from Santa Rosa and Okaloosa County responded and arrested him at Highway 90 and Timbercrest.
A deputy from Crisp County, Georgia was transporting Smith from Houston to Georgia Tuesday. They stopped for a restroom break at Brown's Grocery in Holt around 3:30. That's when police say Smith pepper sprayed the deputy in the face and stole his patrol car. The deputy fired one shot, hitting the windshield of the patrol car.
Deputies found the patrol car, wrecked in a wooded area in Floridale around 5:00 p.m. There was no sign of Smith and they called off the manhunt after a six-and-a-half hour search.
Smith was taken to the Santa Rosa County Jail. he will be held there until arrangements can be made to transport him to Georgia.
News 5 first reported this story as BREAKING NEWS on wkrg.com.
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That guy is not a bad looking woman. lol