On Aug. 15, the Innisfail RCMP were called to the Dodds Lake area where a suspicious male was going through residents back yards.
When the suspect saw one of the property owners, mistaking them for a police officer, he jumped into the lake.
RCMP attended Dodds Lake and observed the suspect bobbing up and down in the middle of the water.
Police attempted to get his attention and have him swim to shore. The suspect said he had warrants and would rather drown than go back to jail. He had been in the water for about 30 minutes.
RCMP called for assistance from Innisfail Fire/Rescue and EMS. Innisfail Fire deployed a rescue boat with RCMP to rescue the suspect from the lake.
When he was located, he refused to get into the boat due to his outstanding warrants.
Eventually, he started to complain about leg cramps and felt dizzy from ingesting too much lake water and was willing to go into the rescue boat. He was taken to shore for medical examination by EMS.
The suspect was found to have no outstanding warrants but was on a 24-hour court-ordered curfew and arrested.
A 25-year-old Innisfail resident has been charged with Failing to comply with a release order.
He has been released from custody and is scheduled to appear at the Alberta Court of Justice in Red Deer on Sept. 11.