PLYMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - The mother of a man who police say intentionally drove into Plymouth Harbor early Wednesday morning before he returned to shore and charged at officers says her son is lucky to have survived the wild incident.
“I’m very sad. I would not want to see anybody go through this,” Lee Baker said of her 39-year-old son’s arrest.
An officer approached a 2020 Toyota Camry on foot around midnight when the driver, later identified as Ryan Reilly, suddenly drove off, according to Plymouth police.
The officer lost sight of the vehicle but another officer in the area spotted it and began to pursue it. That’s when Reilly allegedly drove his car onto a nearby boat ramp and then intentionally into the harbor.
He was shot with a Taser after police say he got out of the car himself, became angry, and began charging at officers.
“They said he’s lucky he lived because the car was upside down,” Baker said. “He’s a big kid, pretty big. He climbed out of the window.”
Reilly is now facing a raft of charges, including failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, driving with license revoked as a habitual traffic offender, malicious damage to a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct (yelling at police), trespassing (the boat ramp was closed), and using a motor vehicle without authority.
“I think he was trying to kill himself because he had been talking a little bit,” Baker said. “They said that if he had stopped when they were chasing him, they wouldn’t have arrested him. They would have actually brought him home.”
Baker told 7NEWS that her son has been battling alcohol abuse issues for years and that he was released from jail a few weeks ago.
“I think that it’s sad they keep putting him in jail and not giving him the help he needs,” Baker explained.
Souza’s Towing, with the help of a dive team, pulled the car out during low tide.
Reilly’s license has since been revoked.
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