A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man ended Thursday morning in his boxers on the banks of the Black River after choosing a chilly swim in an alleged attempt to escape a traffic stop.
Clinton Hunter Wallis, 25, was still booked at Butler County jail this morning, facing an additional charge of resisting arrest.
He was given dry clothing, a hot cup of coffee and a blanket at the Poplar Bluff Police Station before going to jail, officers report.
Medic One emergency medical personnel also checked and cleared scrapes and abrasions Wallis received from sliding down a river embankment.
Wallis has four outstanding warrants, one for possession of a controlled substance, and three failure to appear notices for obstructing process, no insurance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Poplar Bluff patrolman Robert Reed first attempted to stop a Ford F-150 with expired state registration as it traveled north on Broadway around 9:25 a.m. near Victor Street.
The driver, later identified by police as Wallis, turned onto Ashcroft Road as Reed attempted to make contact.
Traveling at a high rate of speed, the truck crossed the center line and fishtailed, Reed said in a probable cause statement.
"The truck then made a small curve and went into the opposite lane and struck the levee to the Black River," he said. "The driver, a white male, exited the truck and began to fall down a large embankment and into the river."
The short chase ended near Woodrow Street. The driver's side of the vehicle stopped several feet from the slope of the river embankment, according to witnesses at the scene.
A female passenger also exited the vehicle and immediately put her hands in the air, Reed said.
"I observed the male treading water and appeared to be having a difficult time staying afloat," Reed explained. "The male then made his way to the opposite side of the river and stripped down to just his boxer underwear."
Reed had notified other officers the suspect was fleeing in the direction of South B Street.
Wallis was arrested by Det. Joey Woodruff at 9:45 a.m. on the eastern bank of the Black River.
The female passenger was questioned, searched by police and released at the scene.