TAVARES —Â Police are searching for a man after allegedly pushing another man off of a boat and leaving him in the canal overnight according to police.
The Lake County State Attorney’s office is working on obtaining an arrest warrant for William Brazzell after the incident that occurred on August 13 earlier this year.
According to the report, Brazzell was on a boat ride with Deborah Iverson and David Hahn when at one point Brazzell reportedly throttled the boat while Hahn was standing on the rear of the boat causing Hahn to fall into the canal.
After falling into the canal, Hahn managed to swim back to the boat and get back on board at which time Brazzell allegedly pushed Hahn back into the water and took off, leaving him alone in the water.
Hann told officers that he “almost drowned” while trying to swim to a place where he could stand.
After reaching the bank of the canal, Hahn reportedly climbed a tree where he was forced to stay overnight stating that he was “surrounded by gators”.
Hahn was rescued by another boater the following morning.
According to police, Hahn had numerous scratches and mosquito bites after spending the night in a tree by the canal.
In an earlier version of this story, Central Florida Wire reported that a man had been arrested in connection with this incident, however, the man arrested was not the suspect in this case and the arrest was the result of an error. You can read more about the arrest and corrections here.
