Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Nabs Wheel of Fugitive Participant Matthew Hill

"WHEEL OF FUGITIVE" PARTICIPANT WINS SWIM CHALLENGE BUT GOES TO JAIL WET

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Saturday evening Brevard County Sheriff’s Office East Precinct Deputies arrested Matthew Hill who was one of our participants on this week’s Wheel of Fugitive.

In an effort to turn up the heat on Hill we actually had him filling 3 spots on the wheel in our new tool, the “Daily Double. Even with the extra help Hill wasn’t selected as the Fugitive of the Week and in fact during the episode I actually said he was the luckiest guy on earth because he just barely missed being picked.

Well as we all know luck doesn’t last long and for Hill it ran out last night when our Deputies recovered a stolen vehicle at the Merritt Square Mall.

The vehicle was entered as stolen out of our agency on January 21st and Matthew Hill was listed as the suspect in the theft.

Mall security advised they observed a suspect matching the description of Hill fleeing eastbound through the parking lot of the mall. Deputy Sean Cronin subsequently located Hill at Veterans Memorial Park immediately behind the Merritt Island Mall.

Deputy Cronin attempted to take Hill into custody at which time he shoved Deputy Cronin and ran towards the river. As Hill was fleeing Deputy Cronin deployed his TAZER as Hill jumped from an 8 foot dock into the river which pulled the leads out of his back and freed him from the effects of the TAZER. Deputy Cronin then pursued Hill into the river until he lost sight of Hill who had swam quickly away.

After an hour and a half manhunt from our Aviation Unit, K9 Deputies, and Deputies from our East and Canaveral Precincts Hill was taken into custody at the 7-11 at South Banana and S.R. 520, by Sergeant Rozycki.

Hill was charged with Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer, grand theft, and resisting with violence. Hill was originally wanted on two warrants for Violation of County Ordinance as a sexual offender and burglar, fleeing and eluding, and felony criminal mischief.

Hill later confessed that he knew he was wanted and that he was on the Wheel of Fugitive multiple times. In fact, Hill asked the arresting Deputies to tell Sheriff Ivey hello and that his luck had finally ran out. Hill further stated that he swam across the river and stole towels off of a citizens dock to stay warm until he could get to the 7-11 in hopes of stealing a car to flee the area.

The good news for Hill, is that he is now safe and warm in the Brevard County Jail where he is scheduled to try out for the Inmate Swim Team that competes in the Cell Block Olympics.

Unfortunately, for the inmates though our jail is not Club Med so it doesn’t have a swimming pool or any other amenities.

Another great job by our BCSO Team who work hard everyday to protect our community!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.

Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft. That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today. The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.

Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.

Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.

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