Man flees deputies by jumping into water tank

Earlier today, sheriff’s deputies trying to arrest a suspect at the Flagler County Courthouse ended up chasing him across SR-100 and into the Bunnell water plant where he jumped into a 9,000-gallon water tank.

Deputies had gone to the courthouse this morning because 42-year-old Sean Monti of Palm Coast is suspected of injuring his longtime girlfriend. He was spotted exiting an elevator at about 10:45 a.m. As deputies prepared to arrest him, Monti fled.

Monti ran inside the facility and tried to hide from deputies, but a witness reported seeing him run upstairs. He jumped into a water tank. When he refused to comply with commands, deputies pulled him out of the tank. Monti was inside the plant for less than 10 minutes.

Because of the incident, the water tank was contaminated, Bunnell City Manager Dan Davis said. Workers drained and flushed all four 9,000-gallon tanks. Fresh water is being brought in to replace what was contaminated. The cost is expected to be less than $1,500 to drain, decontaminate and refill the fresh water – a total of 72,000 gallons, Davis said. It may cost another $1,000 for labor and extra chemicals, he said.

Davis emphasized that the city’s water supply has not been compromised by this incident in any way. The contaminated water tanks were in the treatment process and not yet ready for delivery, he said.