OKEECHOBEE -- A local woman tried to avoid a deputy by hiding under a pontoon boat in a Treasure Island canal, but residents in the area gave her away and now she’s being held on bond.

Deputy Sergeant Donald Ellis, of the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO), indicated in his report that he was in that area Tuesday, April 11, due to a complaint. Apparently, three people in a Jon boat were traveling along canals in the area and catching ducks.

When the deputy caught up to them around 7:34 p.m. in a canal that separates S.E. 35th Avenue and S.E. 36th Avenue, he had them pull ashore in the 3000 block of S.E. 35th Avenue.

There was a man and two women in the boat.

The man and one of the women readily identified themselves to Sgt. Ellis.
But the third woman reportedly stumbled over her last name before settling on Bullock. The sergeant went on to state she also gave him two different dates of birth. She also could not give him any state-issued identification and she could not remember her Social Security number, added Sgt. Ellis.

According to the deputy’s report he returned to his vehicle in an effort to determine her identity when the other female in the aluminum boat approached him. She apparently told him the other woman was running away.

“I advised dispatch that the female fled on foot and gave her description and the direction (the other woman) advised she ran,” stated the deputy’s report.

Residents in the area then told him she jumped into the canal and swam under a pontoon boat.

Sgt. Ellis found her then placed her under arrest on a misdemeanor charge of resisting a law enforcement officer without violence.



As it turns out, Sgt. Ellis learned her real name is Rachael Michelle Miller, 28, N.E. 56th Ave., in Okeechobee. He also found out she is wanted in Broward County on a Widman Act violation based on a felony charge of violation of probation - grand theft.

Wednesday, April 12, she was being held in the Okeechobee County Jail on $5,000 bond.

The sergeant’s report did not indicate if any ducks were found in the trio’s possession, or if the other man and woman were charged.