LAND O'LAKES

Suspect in bicycle theft chased up a tree

A 37-year-old man used cat-like skills to hide in a tree for 11 hours to avoid being charged with stealing a bicycle.

The ordeal began when Ray Allen Charron pushed a man off a bicycle and loaded it into his truck at 2 p.m. Friday. After a Pasco County deputy confronted Charron, he fought with the officer and fled.

Charron then scaled a 30-foot tree near the intersection of Bell Lake and Lake Padgett roads, authorities said. He didn't climb down until Saturday at 1 a.m.

Charron, of Land O'Lakes, was charged with robbery, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, authorities said.

Times staff writer