REPORT: Fort Walton Beach man tries to escape deputy disguised as doctor

OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR) — A Fort Walton Beach man tried to escape from a deputy after disguising himself as a doctor, according to an arrest report.

The report says 71-year-old James “Poppa” Jenkins, Jr. was pulled over by an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputy in Crestview on October 7, 2019.

The report adds Jenkins had an active warrant for selling opiates within 1,000 feet of a school.

After being arrested, Jenkins complained of chest pain and was transported to North Okaloosa Medical Center for evaluation, the report states.

According to the report, while waiting for discharge paperwork to be finished, Jenkins came out from his room dressed as a doctor, wearing blue scrubs and a stethoscope, and tried to run out of the hospital’s emergency room doors.

The report says he ignored the deputy’s commands to stop but was quickly apprehended.

Jenkins told staff someone brought him the garb, but hospital staff said the scrubs did not belong to them, the report states.

Along with the narcotics charge, Jenkins was also arrested for resisting arrest without violence and escape.