Charges Mounting For Florida Beach Joyrider (Video)

CLEARWATER, FL — The 27-year-old Pinellas Park man arrested Thursday afternoon after allegedly driving a black Jeep Cherokee across Clearwater Beach and onto Caladesi Island faces a growing list of criminal charges for the stunt that was live streamed on Facebook. Clearwater Police announced a lengthy list of charges late Thursday night and said other law enforcement agencies involved may add more for the “jaunt onto Caladesi Island.”

The incident that led to Ryan Stiles’ arrest began to unfold around 4:26 p.m. July 20 when Clearwater police received an urgent call about a “possible drunken driver at U.S. 19 and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard,” an email from the agency said. The initial caller told police he was watching Stiles on a Facebook Live broadcast, the agency noted.

Get the Patch newsletter and alerts in your inbox.

Other calls soon followed, the agency reported. One call, in fact, came from as far away as California.

By 4:41 p.m., police say Stiles drove west to Clearwater Beach and went onto the beach at the dead end of Papaya Street. He allegedly ran over beach chairs and umbrellas and other items on the beach, but no people were injured as he made his way onto Caladesi Island. Police say they caught up with him at 4:50 p.m. on the northern tip of the island.

Stiles is also accused of striking a vehicle while driving along Memorial Causeway. Minor damage, but no injuries occurred, the email said.

Once police had Stiles in custody, they say he failed to cooperate. After arriving at Clearwater Police headquarters, he’s accused of taking off his belt and swinging it around in a holding cell, damaging a window. He also refused a breath test, police say.

Stiles was charged with DUI, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving, fleeing and eluding, hit-and-run with property damage, felony criminal mischief and threatening a public servant by Clearwater Police. The Michigan native was booked into the Pinellas County Jail following his arrest and remained there on Friday.

Jail records indicate Stiles is no stranger to the accommodations in Pinellas County. He’s been booked in four times in the past, most recently on assault on a law enforcement officer charges.

Following Stiles’ Thursday capture, Clearwater Deputy Chief Donald Hall said, “we were extremely fortunate” no one was injured.

Previous booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Jail