Man arrested after submerging his truck in Charlotte County Jail lake

A man has been arrested after submerging his truck into the lake outside of the Charlotte County Jail, according to deputies with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.

On Tuesday evening, a detention officer observed a pick-up floating in the lake and then noticed a man standing by the lake watching as the truck sunk to the bottom.

That man was later identified as 35-year-old Tristin Muphy. The officer said Murphy was uncooperative and denied having any knowledge of the truck. He then walked down the road off jail property.

The CCSO Watch Commander said Murphy had been driving around the jail earlier in the evening, but left and then came back. He parked his truck by the lake and then got out and put it in drive so the vehicle ended up driving into the lake.

Not knowing if the truck was occupied, two detention officers jumped into the lake but were unable to reach the vehicle, as it was already too deep in the water.

The Charlotte County Fire/EMS dive team arrived on scene to assist and found the truck to be unoccupied. It was then pulled from the lake.

Murphy was located just down the road from the jail and arrested for Littering Over 500 lbs. of Hazardous Material.

One of the detention officers said he was able to identify Murphy due to his numerous stays as an inmate within the CCSO Jail.