Driver slams into cars, flies off seawall, strips and starts swimming naked

GALVESTON, Texas -- What started with a man erratically driving a convertible and crashing it on a street in Texas quickly made a turn for the bizarre.

The car veered into a parked truck and a street sign, sending debris flying. Moments later, the car went over the seawall in Galveston. The vehicle and driver landed on the rocks below.

It was what happened next that's something Deborah Mudry cannot unsee.

She called 911 to help a bystander who had been hit by some of the debris. When she looked up, Mudry said she saw the driver get up on the hood of the car and proceeded to take off all his clothes.

"He got in the water and started swimming," she said. "He even started doing backstrokes. I thought he was suicidal, but I think it was something else."

Galveston police spokesman Michael Gray identified the driver as 42-year-old Dennis Backman, who's been issued class C misdemeanor citations, including one for evading arrest. Backman was taken to a hospital for observation because of his erratic behavior, which included removing his clothes.

Debra Mudry said she and her family were in Galveston looking at property with a view of the water. She still has that dream she says, "But I don't want that kind of view again."