A 40-year-old man is behind bars after the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said he crashed his car into the jail. He’s been identified at Joseph Leedy.
Leedy drove the car from the parking lot, up the walkway and into the lobby, according to the sheriff’s office.
“I would never in a million years think somebody (would) try to break into jail. Break out, yeah but break in, it’s crazy,” said Brian Cutenese, who was constructing a fence around the jail.
In surveillance video, Leedy can be seen plowing his car into the lobby. The car smashed the door and left tire marks along the sidewalk. When Leedy got out of the car he was half-naked, according to deputies.
“He was disrobed, other than wearing a lady’s top. He, at that point, threw two rubber snakes and multiple cell phones into the lobby, into the actual structure here, and then started pouring motor oil all over his vehicle and then the floor where he was, threatening to light the car (and) himself on fire,” said Chief Deputy John Budensiek with the Martin County Sheriff’s Department.
The deputies then tried to speak with Leedy outside the jail and they got quite the response.
“He kept saying things like ‘the devil told me to kill everyone,’ and he kept sharing his disdain for [former] President Donald Trump,” said Chief Deputy Budensiek.
Deputies don’t know yet if he was on drugs at the time of the incident. It appears he built up a tolerance to different types of drugs, according to the deputies.
“I was at the hospital with him last night. We don’t have blood results back, but he kept joking and asking for more medication and laughing at the fact that we had to give him medication and again, the medication that a normal person would be sedated by was not affecting him at all,” said Chief Deputy Budensiek.
The incident raises a red flag when it comes to security at the jail. The sheriff’s department will now look at beefing up protection around the office and front of the jail.
“Unfortunately sometimes, we play catch-up and we learn from our mistakes where our vulnerabilities are. So, clearly, we have a vulnerability here, but within a short period of time, you’ll see this hardened up,” said Chief Deputy Budensiek.
