HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – A fast-acting Florida deputy pursued and arrested a man accused of driving away in a stolen pickup truck with two children inside on Monday, body camera video posted by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office shows.
Within minutes, Deputy Jonathan Pazmino Alvarez arrested Kevin Smith, who faces two counts of felony kidnapping and one count of grand theft of a motor vehicle charges, according to the sheriff’s office.
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In the video, Alvarez can be heard shouting, “Stop the truck, now! Pull into the parking lot,” before approaching the man, who had a 4-year-old and 8-year-old in the pickup with him.
One of the children tells the deputy that Smith “robbed (their) dad’s car,” bodycam footage shows.
When Alvarez asks Smith to step out of the car, the suspect keeps saying, “Not me,” to which the deputy replies, “Let me figure it out. I don’t know what’s going on,” telling him to get out and hand over the car keys.
In the video, Smith says he doesn’t want the deputy to punch him, to which Alvarez says, “I’m not gonna punch you, bro.”
During the bodycam, you can see the deputy talking off-camera to someone, asking, “This him?” A child in the passenger seat then says, “That’s not my dad.”
Alvarez immediately cuffs Smith when he walks out of the vehicle, footage shows.
“This situation could’ve been a lot worse had it not been for the swift action taken by Deputy Pazmino Alvarez. He halted what could have been an otherwise terrifying situation for any parent,” Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a Facebook post. “Thanks to him, two children are safe and in the arms of their loved ones today.”
No other information is available at this time. Check back here for updates.
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