ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Detectives with the Orange County Sheriff's Office have determined that man initially believed to have drowned after jumping into a lake to flee deptuies, is alive and is at-large.
"Investigators have interviewed multiple persons who have confirmed that they have seen and communicated with Jared Gearity since the encounter. There is now a felony narcotics warrant for the arrest of Mr. Gearity," explained Jeff Williamson with the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office called in the dive team and marine unit, Sunday, to comb an area in the tourist district. Investigators say the incident began at around 2 a.m. Sunday.
Deputies said they spotted a "suspicious" car near the woods behind Top Golf, which is off Universal Boulevard. They say two men were in the car and it smelled like drugs. One man was arrested, but a passenger ran.
Deputies identified that man as Gearity, 38, and said went he into the lake, they pleaded with him to come back to shore, but he never did.
This incident happened just one day after deputies say a suspect in an unrelated drug case jumped into a retention pond trying to get away from deputies in Pine Hills. That man's body was recovered on Saturday.
Anyone who has information regarding Gearity's whereabouts is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff's Office or Crimeline.