Story Archive

Ironman Triathlon — Obliviot Division

At 4:30 a.m., a Monroe County, Fla., sheriff’s deputy saw a pickup truck leaving a fast food restaurant “at a high rate of speed.” He attempted a traffic stop, but the driver led a high speed chase. The man crashed into the Duck Key island sign, but that wasn’t the end of the chase. He crawled out of his truck, ran toward a seawall, and jumped into the water, where “he continued to swim away south, towards Tom’s Harbor Channel,” the pursuing deputy said. After a half-hour search, officers aboard a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boat located Nicholas Tralka, 31, and pulled him out of the water. He refused a field sobriety test: “I’m already going to jail, so why?” Still, a breath test revealed Tralka’s blood alcohol level was .214 percent. He was arrested and charged with a long list of offenses. (MS/Miami Herald) ...His next triathlon will involve pacing in his cell, working out in the exercise yard, and running from the gangs.