Man Escapes By Wading Across River To Hide Pot

Stafford County Sheriff's Sgt. Rebecca Losiewski was making a routine traffic stop Friday morning, but had to call in a canine and extra units because the suspect ran through the woods off Cambridge Street and waded through the rolling river to get away and hide his marijuana, the sheriff's office said Friday.

The man eventually turned himself in. The sheriff's office charged Michael B. Sager, 29, of Woodland Drive, with possession with intent to distribute, obstruction of justice, possession of marijuana and a few traffic citations.

Bill Kennedy, the public information officer for the sheriff's office, said that Sager was in jail on a $2,500 bond.

The traffic stop happened at about 9:35 a.m. May 4. Sgt. Losiewski stopped the truck because it had "defective equipment" and a license plate in the front window. While she was explaining the charges to the driver, he bolted from his truck, ran through the woods and started to cross the river near Falmouth Beach. A local resident who saw the man in the river snapped a photograph with her camera.

Additional units arrived, along with a police canine, and Fredericksburg units assisted with the case. At 12:45 p.m., Sager turned himself in at the Stafford County Sheriff's Office. Deputies went back and searched a small island area on the river where they found a backpack that had baggies filled with marijuana inside.