{"id":301596,"date":"2026-06-09T18:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/301596\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T18:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:30:11","slug":"video-missed-court-date-sparks-manhunt-florida-man-crams-into-ac-system-to-dodge-arrest-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/301596\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Missed court date sparks manhunt, Florida man crams into AC system to dodge arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The Flagler County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/a> says a wanted man tried to outsmart deputies in a game of hide-and-seek, but his hiding spot turned out to be more cramped than clever.<\/p>\n

The sheriff’s office said its deputies with the agency\u2019s Fugitive Unit went to a home on June 5 to serve a felony warrant on James Myers, 33. <\/p>\n

Authorities say Myers had skipped a court appearance tied to several charges, including grand theft, fleeing and eluding, driving with a suspended license, excessive speeding, and resisting an officer. Those charges stem from a March incident involving a stolen truck and a run-in with a K-9 unit<\/a> that ultimately led to his arrest at the time.<\/p>\n

This time around, deputies say Myers tried a different strategy when they showed up, disappearing somewhere inside the home. A search did not take long to turn up something unusual. Myers had wedged himself inside the air conditioning system\u2019s air handler, tucked behind ductwork in an apparent attempt to avoid being found.<\/p>\n

Deputies pulled him out and took him into custody without further incident.<\/p>\n

See also: ‘Trying to hold on’: Florida passenger recalls items falling as 6.1 quake jolted ship<\/a><\/p>\n

He was not the only one trying to stay out of sight. During the search, deputies also found Joann Rosario, 36, hiding in a closet. Investigators say Rosario attempted to help Myers avoid arrest, which led to her being charged with obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n

Myers was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where he is being held without bond. Rosario was also taken into custody but was later released on her own recognizance.<\/p>\n

Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n

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The sheriff\u2019s office says the case is a reminder that trying to hide from an active warrant, or helping someone else do it, usually only makes matters worse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The Flagler County Sheriff\u2019s Office says a wanted man tried to outsmart deputies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-301596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}