Two Men Fleeing Police Get Stuck in Mud

Two men fleeing police were captured after they ran across a muddy lake bed, lost their shoes and got mired in the muck.

Kevin Chawlk, 17, and Richard Neri, 20, got about a quarter of a mile across the lake in near freezing temperatures early Saturday before they got stuck. It took rescuers three hours to get the men out.

One was wearing just a T-shirt and shorts.

“They’d have died if we hadn’t found them,” said East Spencer Police Sgt. James Schmierer. “A couple of idiots is what they are.”

Police began chasing the men in their car after they were clocked at 67 mph in a 45 mph zone, authorities said. The car eventually crashed into a tree and the men jumped out and ran into the woods.

Neri was charged with driving with a revoked license and fleeing to elude arrest. He was jailed on $15,000 bail after being treated at a hospital. Chawlk was not charged.