HERNANDO COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – There’s no running away from your problems. That doesn’t mean you should bike away, either.
On September 8, while conducting a late-night patrol in the area of Cortez Blvd. and Deltona Blvd., a deputy with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) mentioned seeing a man riding a bike with no light attached to the front.
HCSO says the deputy turned around at the intersection to confront the biker. According to HCSO, instead of stopping to work things out, the biker took off from the deputy.
HCSO says the biker rode behind the Weeki Wachee Village Shopping Center, located at 6288 Commercial Way in Spring Hill, when the deputy activated the emergency lights on his patrol vehicle.
They say this did not stop the biker, who continued riding to the front of the shopping center. HCSO says the deputy drove to the front of the plaza to find the bicyclist riding through the parking lot to the southbound sidewalk area of Commercial Way.
HCSO says the bicyclist continued through to the parking lot of a nearby Motel 6, located at 6172 Commercial Way, to the motel’s back parking lot.
At that moment, the deputy and another deputy left their cars behind and started running after the bicyclist.
HCSO says the responding deputies chased the bicyclist on foot to the front of the motel. Deputies say they were giving the bicyclist verbal commands to stop the entire time.
They say the bicyclist found his way back to Cortez Blvd. where he made his way over to the parking lot of a Quality Inn, located at 9373 Cortez Boulevard. It was there that the deputies were able to capture him, according to HCSO.
Deputies identified the bicyclist as 47-year-old Christopher Charles Clay. They reported that he had a blue backpack and a black fanny pack with him.
Deputies reported that they checked the fanny pack and discovered a rubber container with about 5.6 grams of methamphetamine inside.
While continuing to search, deputies say they found two glass smoking pipes containing methamphetamine. They also found a pill bottle with the label scratched off. According to deputies, the bottle contained sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, which are antibiotics. Deputies say Clay did not have a prescription for them.
Clay told deputies that he fled because he didn’t want to go to jail for the missing light on his bicycle. He also told deputies that none of the narcotics found on his person belonged to him, claiming that he was “in the process of moving” and the items were “placed in his belongings.”
Deputies arrested Clay and charged him with:
-
Possession of Paraphernalia
-
Possession of Methamphetamine
-
Possession of Harmful New Legend Drug w/o Prescription
-
Resist Arrest w/o Violence
His bond is set at $7,500.
Clay has previously been arrested seven times by HCSO, dating back to 2010. He was most recently arrested on August 20,2023, for drug possession-related charges.