Woman arrested on Interstate 75 in Bradenton tells troopers she needed to escape 'evil spirits in Florida'

MANATEE -- A woman was arrested Sunday after several times walking along Interstate 75, claiming she needed to get out of Florida because it has evil spirits, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

A trooper saw Xhavis Wyrick, 39, of Pennsylvania, walking on I-75 northbound at 10:42 a.m. She told the trooper she was, "walking to Georgia because there are evil spirits in Florida," according to the report.

The trooper told her she couldn't walk along the highway and offered to give her a ride to a safe location, taking her to the Texas Roadhouse at 5710 Ranch Lake Blvd. in Bradenton.

The trooper asked dispatch to run her driver's license number and found she had been stopped by troopers four times in the past four days for walking on the interstate. There were also multiple calls about her walking on the highway in January. The last time a trooper picked her up, he told her if she walked on the highway again she would be arrested.

When the trooper questioned Wyrick about this, she said she was picked up several times by troopers. She repeated that she needed to get out of Florida and that she knew she would go to jail but, "I had to so I can get away from the evil spirits."

The trooper arrested Wyrick and charged her with obstructing the law without violence, a misdemeanor. She is being held in the Manatee County jail on $500 bond.

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Woman arrested on Interstate 75 in Bradenton tells troopers she needed to escape 'evil spirits in Florida' ."