TAMPA, Fla. – A Tampa police officer deployed his Taser while attempting to arrest a domestic violence suspect who was then fatally struck by a car, according to a news release.
Officers responded around 2:20 a.m. Friday to a reported domestic-related assault in the 4000 block of West Hillsborough Avenue, the release states. The first officer on the scene located the suspect and attempted to question him, yet police said the suspect refused to obey commands and tried entering a vehicle that a female victim was inside before attempting to leave on foot.
The officer deployed his Taser and a vehicle traveling eastbound on West Hillsborough Avenue then struck the suspect and continued without stopping, according to the release.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. It was not immediately shared whether the suspect was lying in the road stunned when the crash occurred. News 6 is working to learn more.
The Tampa Police Department has classified the suspect’s death as an in-custody death due to how the officer was attempting to arrest them when they were struck by the vehicle, according to the release. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has thus taken the lead on the death investigation in accordance with a mutual aid agreement, police said.
Traffic homicide investigators are otherwise still working to identify and locate the vehicle that struck the suspect, according to the release, though no description was available at the time of this report.
A victim’s advocate would work with the victim in the case, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
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