Man arrested on multiple charges after manhunt in Cottage Hill: NorthEscambia.com

A man faces several charges following a manhunt in Cottage Hill on Monday evening.

Jeremy Edward Byrd, 48, was charged with resisting an office and illegal possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was also arrested on an outstanding warrant after his bail was revoked in a 2022 case involving charges of trafficking fentanyl, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of cocaine.

An Escambia County Sheriff's deputy spotted Byrd riding a bicycle on Virecent Road near Cottage Hill Road. The deputy had been searching for Byrd on a warrant and knew he was at an address in the 100 block of Cottage Hill Road.

The deputy rolled down the windows and told Byrd to stop, but he sped up. The deputy drove his vehicle in front of the bike, but Byrd drove into a ditch.

“Because Jeremy Byrd was fleeing, refusing to stop, and was about to enter a wooded area from which he could escape, and I was alone, I deployed the department-provided taser,” the deputy wrote in the arrest report. The taser missed because it hit bushes. The deputy saw Byrd enter a wooded area and flee toward Crowndale Road. Other deputies and a tracking dog unit responded.

Byrd was found in a muddy area, lying with his arms underneath his body. He repeatedly refused to give the deputy his arms, the report states, and the deputy struck his fist in the bicep area in an attempt to control and restrain Byrd.

The report states that underneath Byrd was a black bag containing a baggy of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine in a field test, as well as a syringe and other drug paraphernalia.

Byrd was not injured in the incident.

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