CAMPBELL, Mo. (AP) — A man has drowned after fleeing from officers in the flooded Missouri Bootheel region.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the body of 40-year-old Rickey G. Lerma, of Risco, was found Thursday morning in the St. Francis River after he fled from officers.

An officer had approached Lerma after Campbell police were contacted about a suspicious person parked in a driveway. Lerma fled after the officer asked him to step out of his vehicle.

Police say Lerma bailed out of his vehicle when it stalled while he attempted to cross a flood zone. A police dog later found him swimming along the flooded river, but Lerma refused orders to return to land.

Police says he had felony warrants in Dunklin County and surrounding counties.