Yes, this happened in Florida.
While leading police on a wild chase through Boca Raton, 21-year-old Daniel Pinedo Velapatino decided he was thirsty. He had spent the morning allegedly taking drugs, stealing money, crashing cars and fleeing police, so naturally, he needed to rehydrate.
So Velapatino knocked on a stranger’s door and asked for a glass of water. “He said, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. Next door, I’m mowing the lawn. Do you mind if I have a glass of water?’” said Candace Noonan, the owner of the home. Noonon went to get him a bottle of water, and when she came back, Velapatino was lying on her living room floor, playing with her cats. “It was odd, very odd,” Noonan said. “He was stroking my cat. It almost looked like he either was on drugs or he was mentally handicapped.” Or maybe he knew his last few moments as a free man would be best spent nuzzling kitten?
Palm Beach County Jail
After Noonan started questioning Velapatino, he fled out the back door and a fleet of cop cars drove up around the house. Police continued chasing Velapatino, who desperately jumped into a canal and tried to swim away. But a police boat snatched him up and took him into custody.
According to investigators, Velapatino had been up all night taking drugs with a couple friends. Now, he’s accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a friend’s wallet, as well as crashing a stolen Lexus into a police cruiser and a fire hydrant, before fleeing on foot.
But don’t worry, Velapatino had a purr-fectly legit reason for his multiple criminal heists: He told investigators he owed his mom $2,000 and he was just trying to pay her back.
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