You just can’t make some of this craziness up. Police in Surfside, Florida, chased a wrong-way driver along the beach until he got stuck in the sand. The driver, in an unconventional response to his impending arrest, then waved an American flag at the cops on the scene. 

A Florida driver led police on a wild chase that ended on the beach with the suspect waving his passport and an American flag

Orlando Pablo Taboada of Hialeah, Florida, may have made history among the police officers in Surfside and Bal Harbour. Taboada was driving a late-model GMC Yukon when police attempted to pull him over. Needless to say, that wasn’t part of Taboada’s plan.

The 53-year-old Floridian led police officers on a wrong-way chase “at a high rate of speed.” The authorities described his driving as erratic, citing that he was “abruptly switching lanes and jumping curbs in a reckless and dangerous manner.”

If that wasn’t enough to escalate things, Taboada reportedly slammed into Surfside and Bal Harbour police vehicles with the 5,800-lb SUV. Fortunately, Taboada ran out of talent and beached the Yukon, getting it stuck in the sand of a crowded beach. 

“Driver, get out of the vehicle! Exit the vehicle!” police officers shouted at Taboada after the chase. But before the officers could pull him out of the vehicle and put him in handcuffs, Taboada resorted to a truly bizarre action.

Authorities say he pulled out his passport and a small American flag and started waving them. He did so as he flashed a smile at police officers. Not your typical end to a high-speed police chase.

The officers at the scene then tased and arrested Taboada, bringing the lunacy to an end. “They talk about our job, they say ’99% boredom and 1% sheer terror,’” Surfside Chief of Police Charles Press told Local 10 News. “And guess what? That 1% can happen any time.”