LAKELAND, Fla. — A man rescued from a chilly creek Tuesday was arrested on outstanding warrants for burglary and theft.
Dillard Hamilton, a 52-year-old man from Auburndale, was chest-deep in a creek and clinging to a tree when deputies found him around 8:30 p.m. off Dawn Heights Drive, according to a Polk County Sheriff's Office news release. Several callers reported hearing a man screaming for help in the woods.
"Hamilton was shivering, moving very slowly, and appeared confused as deputies rescued him from the water," the sheriff's office said.
He reportedly told rescuers he had been walking around and got lost, estimating that he had been in the woods for at least six hours before being found.
His body temperature was down to about 84 degrees when checked out by Polk County Fire Rescue. After being taken to an area hospital for treatment of hypothermia, authorities say that's when he became uncooperative with medical staff and was released.
But deputies learned he had several outstanding warrants and arrested him, the sheriff's office said.
"Deputies did a fantastic job with this rescue, and despite the conditions, they were able to locate Hamilton and pull him to safety rather quickly," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "Given his condition, they probably got to him just in time.
"We are also looking into why he was out there in the first place. He has a history of burglaries and thefts, so that is being investigated."
