A suspect’s ocean escape nearly took a dive when authorities spotted a shark following along

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A North Carolina man jumped in the ocean to swim away from police, but drone footage of his attempted evasion shows that he was close to suffering a fate worse than jail.

Zachary Kingsbury, 20, was pulled over by Surf City Police Department officers and asked to step out of the car when they spotted illegal contraband. Angel exited his vehicle but ran to the ocean and jumped in for a watery getaway.

An SCPD drone caught up with Kingsbury and followed him as he swam nearly 4,000 feet away from the shore. But, the feed showed that he was not alone in the water. One look at the bottom right of the screen revealed that a shark was following Kingsbury rather closely for a portion of the trip.

The chase quickly turned into a rescue operation. Pender Emergency Medical Services and the Surf City Fire Department were joined by the North Topsail Police Department and the U.S. Coast Guard to aid in the search.

Kingsbury was finally captured three hours after he was initially pulled over. He faces charges of resisting arrest and drug possession.

RELATED: Dramatic CCTV footage shows convenience store clerk fighting off attackers

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