DeLand man crashes car after failed traffic stop

Ryan Whiteway, 37, found with drugs, paraphernalia in his possession, police say

DeLAND, Fla. – A DeLand man was arrested on drug charges a week after he was arrested for similar charges. 

Ryan Whiteway, 37, was arrested Sunday after police said he failed to pull over. 

Police bodycam video shows Whiteway get out a car that crashed in a retention pond behind a Goodwill in DeLand. 

Moments before the crash, a caller spoke to a 911 dispatcher and told them Whiteway was acting erratic at a local restaurant. 

"Hi, I'm calling -- there's a guy in the DeLand Chili's who's yelling at people in the parking lot, and now he's drunk inside the restaurant without his shoes, harassing the customer," the caller told dispatchers. 

Police said they tried to get Whiteway to pull over, but instead he drove away from police. 

A bystander can be seen on the police body camera trying to see if Whiteway is OK. 

Whiteway told police he didn't see them and didn't know they wanted him to pull over. He said he was scared because people had put a hit on him after he cooperated with police on a different case. 

"I was scared. I got a hit out on me because I helped the police," Whiteway said. "I helped them in Debary."

Inside the car and in Whiteway's possession, police said they found prescription pills, a glass pipe and a syringe.

Whiteway told police the drugs, which were in the pants he was wearing, weren't his and that they belonged to a friend.

Whiteway was taken to an area hospital for treatment and later booked into the Volusia County jail on $29,000 bail.


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