Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from a prior version to clarify the type of machinery the man was driving.
A man “in crisis” was refusing to exit a John Deere skid steer that he drove through Frederick, Maryland, on Saturday, authorities said in a statement posted to Facebook.
The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said they persuaded the man to exit the skid steer — which is a piece of equipment often used for construction — on Marcies Choice Lane, where deputies used an armored vehicle called a BearCat.
Deputies said they then took the man into custody without incident. He was charged with multiple traffic violations, including fleeing and eluding, by citation.
The driver was taken to Frederick Health Hospital for an evaluation, according to the statement. At the owner’s request, the track loader was returned to their farm in Walkersville.
Before taking the man into custody, deputies with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office shut down roads and tried to stop the man driving the machine multiple times.
Deputies said the driver had told them that he was on his way to the Frederick County Adult Detention Center.
A few years ago, The Frederick News-Post reported that the sheriff’s office spent just under a quarter million dollars on a BearCat, the armored vehicle used to stop the man driving the track loader. A majority of the funding, $225,000, came from “money that the Sheriff’s Office received for housing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees.” The remaining money came from other assets such as vehicles seized in drug arrests.
“I want people to know that the money came from drug dealers and illegal aliens,” said Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, speaking with the Frederick News-Post.
