Aeryk Brant, 23, was arrested on two counts of resisting law enforcement and one count of auto theft.

At 2:25 a.m. on September 5, South Bend Police officers responded to an apartment complex on E. LaSalle Avenue for a motor vehicle theft.

The owner of the vehicle told police she was making a grocery delivery in the area and had left her white 2008 Chevrolet Equinox SUV running with the keys inside near a ramp for underground parking.

The victim saw an unknown man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt or jacket jump into the SUV and drive away, traveling west on LaSalle, reports said.

At 2:45 a.m., an officer searching for the SUV saw it heading north near Elwood Avenue and Adams Street.

The officer chased the SUV until it was driven into the St. Joseph River.

The driver, later identified as Brant, allegedly climbed on top of the vehicle, jumped into the river, and swam away from police.

When Brant reached the east side of the river, he climbed the embankment and started running east, reports said.

He was caught by a St. Joseph County police officer near the softball field at St. Mary's College.

While speaking with police, Brant said a man with a buzz haircut told him to move the SUV in exchange for drugs, according to reports.

He said the man told him to park the SUV near the Family Video on Portage Road.

Brant planned to park the SUV and then walk back to Brookfield Street to meet up with the unknown man, according to reports.

Brant denied knowing the SUV was stolen, police said.

When asked why he swam away from officers, Brant said he just wanted to go for a swim, according to police.

No one was trapped in the SUV but a dive team could not retrieve the vehicle from the river.

Brant was released from the St. Joseph County Jail on a $1,000 bond on Friday.

He is due in court on September 20.