PUNTA GORDA, Fla. -- A Port Charlotte man's efforts to avoid police, including swimming across a canal and hiding in a shed, were not enough to keep him from being arrested for burglary.
22-year-old Edward Hilton is now facing charges of Burglary, Theft, and Violation of Probation.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, calls about a suspicious vehicle at a home on El Dorado Drive in Punta Gorda home led deputies to find Hilton in the back yard and his truck parked out of view.
Hilton immediately fled the scene by jumping in a canal and swimming across to a home on Fontana Drive, where he hid in a shed until deputies found him.
A search of the El Dorado Drive residence found a pile of valuables in the main living area, as if ready to be removed in bulk.
Hilton was arrested and booked into the Charlotte County Jail.
He was previously arrested in 2016 on burglary and grand theft charges.
