Car crash gets weird when driver strips off clothes, hides in swamp, Florida cops say

Arguments and even fights are known to erupt after car crashes, but things took a far stranger turn in Polk County, Florida, when one driver stripped off his clothes after colliding with a semi-truck, officials say.

The crash happened about 8:30 p.m. on April 10 near Mulberry, when a Nissan Sentra crossed the center line on Highway 640 and collided with a Kenworth semi-truck, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported in an affidavit.

“After the crash the defendant ran away from the scene without providing information such as a driver’s license, insurance or vehicle registration,” the responding deputy wrote.

“The defendant was ... described as having taken his clothes off and running away in just his underwear.”

Search dogs found the 23-year-old driver about a mile deep in the swamp — wearing only blue boxers, officials said.

“He didn’t resist. He just wanted to get out of the woods and swamp,” officials said.

The suspect was hospitalized for minor injuries, , officials said.

The driver was charged “with leaving the scene of a crash with injuries, failure to maintain required insurance, and knowingly driving while license suspended or revoked,” the affidavit says.

Investigators have not explained why the driver stripped off his clothes, but speculated he “thought it would be harder for deputies to find him if they weren’t able to look for someone in specific colored clothing.”

“He obviously didn’t realize that people running in their skivvies tend to stand out in a crowd,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.

Mulberry is about 40 miles southeast of downtown Tampa.

This story was originally published April 18, 2023 at 7:52 AM with the headline "Car crash gets weird when driver strips off clothes, hides in swamp, Florida cops say."