Police bodycam video shows cops searching Disney World's shuttered Discovery Island in search of a trespasser who was camped out there...
Police bodycam video shows cops searching Disney World's shuttered Discovery Island in search of a trespasser who was camped out there during the coronavirus lockdown.
Cops swarmed the 11-acre island on April 30 after the trespasser, who documented his adventure on Youtube, was captured on security camera wandering around the abandoned tourist attraction.
Discovery Island, which is located in the middle of Disney's Bay Lake and only accessible by boat, was closed to the public in 1999.
It was once home to animal exhibits and popular walking trails, but is now full of overgrown foliage, decaying buildings and rusted-out cages.
Footage shows the cops wandering around the island with their guns drawn as they yell out to the trespasser to surrender.
'This is the best game of hide-and-seek ever,' one officer can be heard saying as he looks through empty animal enclosures.
'Dude, this is sketchy,' his partner replies.
However, police failed to locate the trespasser on the island, but were waiting to apprehend him later that evening as he made his way back to the mainland.
He was identified as 42-year-old Alabama man Richard McGuire and was charged with trespassing at Disney. He faces up to 12 months in jail, according to Click Orlando.
Police bodycam video shows cops searching Disney World's shuttered Discovery Island in search of a trespasser who made it his home during the coronavirus lockdown
Discovery Island, which is located in the middle of Disney's Bay Lake and only accessible by boat, was closed to the public in 1999.
Given that the entire Disney World resort was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, McGuire was able to gain access to the empty theme park under the cover of darkness by using a small motorized boat to reach the island.
He even documented the adventure on his camera phone and posted several videos to his YouTube channel.
In one video, McGuire even claims he has been a frequent visitor to the abandoned island for more than a decade.
'You guys, if you all ever do this, be respectful to the next people who are explorers,' he states.
'If you have a fire, make sure you put it out the next day. I've been doing this since 2004 and I've never caught anything on fire.'
McGuire also recorded police searching for him on the morning of April 30, with helicopters heard hovering overhead as cops combed the island to apprehend him.
'The island is surrounded,' he whispers to viewers in that clip.
McGuire documented the adventure on his camera phone and posted several videos to his YouTube channel. One clip showed him hiding in overgrown foliage while cops searched for him close by (pictured)
Police pushed through overgrown foliage to search through decaying buildings and rusted-out cages on the 11-acre island
Treasure Island was a popular attraction at Disney World prior to its closure in 1999. An old map is pictured
Cops failed to find on the island, but he was detained late on the evening of April 30 after making his way back to the mainland, claiming he was 'flat wore out'.
McGuire claimed he planned to stay on the island 'for about a week' before his fatigue set in and he handed himself in.
He was taken into custody and charged with the misdemeanor offense before being released on bail.
McGuire is still taking to YouTube to talk to viewers about his time on the island.
In a recent clip uploaded late last month he stated: ''Luckily, I've already taken my daughter Disney World before I got a life ban.
'Who wouldn't want to go and have it all to themselves?'
He later told local news network WESH that the manhunt to find him 'felt like a scene from the movie 'The Fugitive.
'I never expected it to be that intense," he stated.
Disney World was forced to shutter back in mid-March amid the COVID-19 outbreak, before it reopened to visitors at a reduced capacity in July.
'This is the best game of hide-and-seek ever': Officers had their guns drawn as they searched the Disney property
There were numerous police combing the island, while a police helicopter hovered overhead
Police did not locate McGuire on the island, but he was eventually apprehended later that evening when he made his way back to the mainland
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