A Florida man, trying to escape from police, drove into a ditch and then threw his three young kids over a nearly six-foot-high fence in a frantic attempt to get away, according to authorities.

Twenty-six-year-old Larry Rada Jr. is facing numerous charges, including three counts of cruelty to a child, three counts of child neglect—none involving severe harm—as well as charges for hit and run, and evading the police.

On Saturday, a Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputy on patrol near Fort Myers Beach spotted a black Infiniti with Michigan license plates being driven recklessly, as described in a probable cause statement seen by Law&Crime. The officer attempted a traffic stop, but the car performed a complete 360-degree maneuver around the patrol vehicle and sped off.

The deputy did not continue pursuing the car, but while driving further, several bystanders flagged him down. The suspect’s vehicle had reportedly “ended up in a ditch.”

Upon reaching the scene at the San Carlos Boulevard and Linda Loma Drive intersection, the officer talked to multiple witnesses. One witness reported that the suspect, allegedly identified as Rada, had fled the scene with three young children.

Rada is said to have been the uncle of two of the children and the father of the other child.

Another witness had surveillance footage of Rada “cutting across his backyard with all three victims, approaching a locked gate, and proceeding to toss all three victims over the fence,” which measured 5.92 feet high, the probable cause statement reads.

The children “appeared to be in distress and crying” as they approached the fence and were “hurl[ed]” over, “in a manner with blatant disregard for the children’s safety,” authorities wrote. One of the children later “began to vomit profusely, and all three children complained of pain in various parts of their bodies.”

Rada jumped over the fence himself, fell, and disappeared into the backyard, the court document continues. The children were later seen to be “covered in dirt stains.”

Deputies arrested the suspect at his home and brought the children to a hospital, where a doctor later “explained that all three victims had presented to the emergency room with pain in their head and abdomen and reported being involved in a traffic crash in which Rada was driving.” None of the children had any visible injuries, and as of Sunday, they were set to be released from the hospital.

Detectives later spoke with the children’s mothers, who said Rada picked them up from school on Friday and was set to spend a few days with them. One of the women said she last spoke to Rada on Saturday at about 6:30 p.m. when he said the kids “were doing well.” However, Rada’s brother later told her about the crash, authorities said.

Rada reportedly told deputies he had spent Saturday at the beach with the kids and confessed to driving them afterward. He said that the initial attempted traffic stop had caused him to get “scared.”

“Rada’s reasoning for not stopping was that he was ‘scared’ of law enforcement,” the probable cause statement reads. The suspect allegedly added that after he crashed into the ditch, “he fled … cutting across several yards during which he threw” the victims over the fence.

“Throughout the interview, Rada maintained that he knew what he did was wrong but was scared to return to prison,” the court document states.

Court records showed that Rada had been arrested at least eight times before, dating back to 2017. The charges were generally for marijuana possession and failing to appear in court, or probation violations.

Rada is listed as still in custody at the Lee County Jail, and he has an arraignment hearing scheduled for Oct. 13.