SWAT team called for hit and run arrest
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

Hatcher

An ill-fated squirrel caused quite a commotion in a normally quiet Midway neighborhood last week. The rodent met an early death while climbing on a pole-mounted step-down transformer and a nearby state trooper mistook the resulting noise for gunfire. The SWAT team was called in and set up a parameter around one house Dec. 27.

According to a police report, Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) Trooper Joe Powers was investigating a hit and run accident on the 4300 block of Catawba Drive at around 6:45 a.m. Powers was attempting to make contact with the suspect and approached a home occupied Jeremiah Harrold Hatcher, 22, when he heard a loud noise that "sounded like a shotgun blast," the trooper's report said. Following normal procedure, the trooper requested assistance from the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office, which responded with their SWAT team, crisis negotiators and at least a dozen patrol officers from FHP and the sheriff's office. When Hatcher did not respond to phone calls or verbal commands, SWAT team officers entered the home through the front door, which had been left unlocked. Sgt. Scott Haines with the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office said Hatcher was arrested without incident and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage. The FHP report said Hatcher was also charged with failure to report a traffic crash. There were no reported injuries.

Further investigation revealed the loud noise was caused by the squirrel's deadly interaction with the transformer.

Lynn Erickson with Gulf Power said three nearby homes lost power at approximately 7 a.m. and the transformer was operational again at 9:30 a.m.