Escaped Florida felon who allegedly faked injury screams in agony as K-9 drags him from hiding spot in woods

A Florida inmate who faked a fall injury in an effort to escape was dragged by a law enforcement K-9 kicking and screaming from the thick underbrush where he was hiding, authorities said Sunday. 

Anthony Romine, 29, was found Saturday in a wooded area by a gas station in Flagler County after being tracked by a Flagler County Sheriff’s K-9 team. 

He was hiding underneath some foliage and underbrush, the sheriff’s office said. 

His capture came seven hours after his escape. Video footage of the arrest shows a K-9 dragging Rommie, who was screaming in pain. 

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The footage appears to show the dog dragging Romine by his arm.

“Get him please!” he’s heard pleading to the deputies, who kept warning Romine to “stop biting my dog!.”

“Alright, I’ll go,” Romine says. 

At one point, he appears to be crying when a deputy asks: “You thought you were going to get away?” During his brief escape, authorities received multiple calls on possible sightings of Romine, the sheriff’s office said. 

Romine was initially arrested on July 3 on a felony warrant for petty theft, violation of his pre-trial release and counterfeiting. He was in jail when he claimed he fell before being taken to the hospital for treatment, the sheriff’s office said. 

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Investigators later determined he faked his injury in an effort to escape and return to Ohio, where he is originally from, authorities said. 

“We worked until we got him. I commend our team for staying on his trail, and the community for ‘seeing something, saying something’ until this dirtbag was captured,” said Flager County Sheriff Rick Staly. “All he accomplished was to add additional arrests to his list of crimes and got bitten by our K-9, who gets a special treat for taking ‘a bite out of crime’ when he tried to flee again. Fortunately, no one was hurt except this dirtbag who was crying after he was caught by our K-9.” 

Anthony Romine, 29, seen after his capture and before his escape on security video.  (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)

After his capture, felony escape was added to the list of charges against Romine, as well as battery on a law enforcement officer without violence. 

Staly said an investigation will be opened to determine how the deputy assigned to Romine became distracted, which led to the escape.