Escaped Florida felon who faked injury screams in agony as K9 drags him out from the woods

On the morning of Saturday, July 27, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office inmate Anthony Romine was being treated at AdventHealth Palm Coast and escaped on foot. Seven hours later, he was caught after an extensive search and is back in custody at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.

Romine, 29, was apprehended in the woods by the Amoco gas station near the southbound ramp at Interstate 95 and State Road 100 in Palm Coast after he was tracked and located by an FCSO K-9 patrol team. Romine had been hiding underneath foliage and underbrush. Deputies had been notified that he was possibly in the area after the clerk at the gas station reported that Romine had come into the store and asked to use the phone.

When notified of the early-morning escape, Sheriff Rick Staly responded to AdventHealth and worked with the on-duty watch commander to direct the search. Over the course of the seven-hour search, the FCSO Communications Center received multiple calls on possible sightings, which were investigated by deputies with the help of the FCSO K-9 Unit, Drone Unit, Flagler County Fire Rescue’s FireFlight helicopter, the Volusia Sheriff's Office’s Air One helicopter, and bloodhounds from Tomoka Correctional Institution.

Romine was originally arrested on July 3 on a felony warrant for Petit Theft, Violation of Pre-Trial Release, and two counts of Counterfeit. After a fall in the jail, he was transported to AdventHealth for treatment. Through investigative means, detectives determined that Romine had faked an injury in hopes that he could escape and return to Ohio, where he is originally from.

"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 Sheriff 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.”

After being apprehended, Romine was arrested on a felony warrant for his escape, as well as Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer and Resisting without Violence.

Sheriff Staly added, “Now that he has been apprehended, we will start a review of the incident to determine how the deputy assigned to watch him was distracted that resulted in his escape."