Florida man arrested after trying to flee on back of semi truck

Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida said they arrested a man who attempted to evade deputies by clinging to the back of a semi truck.

Edwin Rivera captured video Monday on John Young Parkway in Orange County of a man standing on the ledge at the rear of a tractor-trailer and clinging while the truck drove at high speeds.

"I thought about getting behind the truck to get a better view, but then again, I thought real quick and I said, 'What if this man falls? What if he jumps?' I didn't know the state of mind, so I decided just to stay in the right lane and get an idea of what was happening," Rivera told WKMG-TV.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office identified the man as Derrick Maestas, 20. They said Maestas was using the truck as a getaway vehicle to try to avoid arrest attacking a woman in connection with an argument on a Lynx bus.

"The victim was on her cell phone apparently, in the back of the bus where it was extremely loud, so she was talking in a loud voice," sheriff's office spokeswoman Jane Watrel told WOFL-TV. "The suspect didn't like it, told her she was too loud. Instead of just letting it go, when she went off the bus, he followed her and he assaulted her."

Watrel said deputies had an easy time tracking down Maestas thanks to numerous calls from members of the public about a man riding on the back of a truck.

"Because citizens got involved, they saw something and said something... we were able to solve this within an hour," she said.