Seven Cars Abandoned and One Escaped Prisoner on Flyover


At approximately 4:45 this afternoon, April 26, 2007, Warrants Deputies with the Warrants Division of the Bay County Sheriffs Office were transporting a male prisoner who attempted to escape.

Mathew McRaney, DOB 9/20/74, of 720 Beachwood Lane, Panama City Beach, had just been picked up on Panama City Beach on an outstanding felony warrant for Aggravated Battery. Warrants deputies approached McRaney at about 3:30 pm.on Front Beach Road. He fought with deputies and fled. Concerned citizens in the area approached the Warrants deputies and told them where they had seen McRaney hide. Deputies were able to then find and apprehend him. One deputy involved with taking McRaney into custody the first time had to be treated at the emergency room of a local medical facility and has since been released.

McRaney was being transported to the Bay County Jail and was traveling east on the flyover when he began complaining the handcuffs had cut circulation to his hands. The deputy pulled over to the side of the road to check that the cuffs werent too tight and McRaney fought with him and was able to run a second time.

In response to a call for assistance, marked and unmarked cars responded with lights and sirens. As these responding vehicles entered the flyover, seven vehicles also traveling eastbound on the flyover suddenly came to an abrupt stop. All passengers in these seven vehicles fled on foot. Some crossed the westbound lanes of Hwy 98, most escaped into the wooded area to the east of the Navy Base. Deputies first on the scene approached two men on the flyover that had left one of the stopped cars and were attempting to flee. The two males began to fight the deputy. These two men were taken into custody and will be charged with Resisting an Officer With Violence. All seven vehicles have been removed from the flyover area.

During an interview with a Spanish speaking Investigator, these two men admitted the reason they and the others from the seven vehicles fled was they thought that deputies were going to stop them on the Hathaway Bridge because they were undocumented. Recent aggressive efforts by the Bay County Sheriffs Office, in conjunction with the Panama City Beach Police, to enforce FSS 448.09 and cite employers who hire illegal workers has resulted in a heightened awareness by undocumented individuals of local law enforcement.

McRaney was apprehended and now faces nine additional charges: Escape (x2); Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer (x2); Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer; Petty Theft; Possession of a Controlled Substance (Alprazolam); Carrying a Concealed Weapon; and Grand Theft Auto. McRaney is in custody at the Bay County Jail.

Prepared by R. Sasser
Information by Sheriff F. McKeithen, Capt. G. Peel, Sgt. S. Nagy, Inv. P. Vecker