DAVIE (CBS4) - Davie police have identified an accused thief who tried to pull off a quick and watery getaway but instead found himself treading water and part of his getaway was caught on surveillance video.

Jonathan Somps, 24, has been jailed on motor vehicle theft and reckless driving among other charges.

It all started when police say Somps stole a $2.64 bottle of Smirnoff Ice from a Race Track gas station located at 2855 Davie Road on Monday. When he was confronted by the station manager, Somps ran away and into Thomas Bieger's 2002 Ford pickup truck. According to the Davie police report, Somps took off in the pickup truck at a high rate of speed, ran a stop sign and crashed into a car driven by Alejandro Laurentes on Davie Road. Both vehicles were heavily damaged and Laurentes suffered injuries to his face and leg.

Somps, states the report, then ran away. Surveillance video shows him running through Kovac's Automative and he's not alone, a couple of mechanics can be seen running after him.

"I was already standing. He was running through here and I was already standing here waiting for him. I got here much quicker than he did from cutting through the shop and he stood here and I was like, 'hey there's nowhere to go' and he just looked at me and looked behind him and jumped over the fence," explained a mechanic named David who ran after the suspect.

When the suspect jumped into the lake, he had nowhere to go but down, literally. He peeled off his clothes because they were weighing him down. He refused to come in so Davie police launched a rescue boat and threw him a life ring. After an hour of swimming, Somps was hoisted into the rescue boat, exhausted from treading water.

Witnesses said they thought the suspect would either drown or become gator bait because they say there are a lot of alligators in the lake.

Once on dry land, Somps was arrested and transported to Memorial West Hospital and checked out. He was then transferred to jail where he's charged with Petit Theft, Grand Theft Motor Vehicle, Resisting an Officer Without Violence, Reckless Driving and Leaving the Scene of an Accident with an Injury.

Bond has been set at nearly $5,000.

CBS4's Ted Scouten contributed to this report.