EUSTIS, Fla. – A man believed to have groped a woman drove his pickup truck at a Eustis police officer Tuesday causing the officer to open fire, according to investigators.
Police said officers were responding to a call of a woman who was attacked along Morningview Drive. Investigators said a man wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black pants and surgical mask ran up behind the woman while she was walking, groped her and then threw her to the ground.
According to a news release, officers spotted a man in an early 2000s Cadillac Escalade EXT who matched the description of the attacker. Police said the man was trying to hide behind the dash, but officers spotted him and ordered him out of the pickup truck.
As police ordered the man out of his vehicle, backup arrived, according to the release. As one of the backup officers was getting out of his cruiser, police said the man hit the gas.
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The pickup truck was heading toward the backup officer, who then opened fire, investigators said.
Body camera video shows the officer step out of his vehicle as the Cadillac Escalade sped toward him.
“I’m good, he almost hit me,” the officer is heard saying in the video.
The pickup truck then drove off, hitting another vehicle as it got away, resulting in damage to the front passenger side.
“It does have significant damage on the passenger side front end,” Sgt. Jon Fahning said. He also said with the significant damage, he could not imagine the man was able to get too far.
Neighbors who also live on Morningview Drive said they were shocked by the events that took place Tuesday night.
“I hear the lady, and she’s, like, crying,” said Eustis resident AJ Peterson. “When I left, she wasn’t crying. So, like it was kind of weird. So, I kind of just, like, set down my bags — ‘I’m like, Hey, are you OK?’ She’s like, no, some man just, like, tried to grab me from behind and just, like, touch all over me and threw me to the ground.”
Neighbors said they heard the gunshots.
“Next thing I heard was pow, pow, pow and the truck that the suspect was in, he fled off,” said Eustis resident Nicole Spradlin.
Spradlin said she has small children and is now nervous to let them play outside.
“My daughters play out here and, you know, they ride around and they can’t even do that now,” Spradlin said. “Like, I can’t let them out here because they’re little girls — I have three of them.”
Eustis Police Captain Jon Fanhing said the suspect has a slew of charges headed his way.
“Obviously, the aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, you know, the sexual assault charges that we’re going to put in place,” Fanhing said. “And honestly, anything else we can uncover, because this person needs all of it thrown at him. So, I promise when we get a hold of him, every single thing I can charge him with, he’s going to be charged with.”
Police said they are offering a $5,000 bond for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.
This comes just over a month after a woman was sexually assaulted while jogging on Country Club Road and Club Hills Drive. There was also a similar attack on May 1, police said. Fahning said the April attack and Tuesday’s attack have a lot of similarities.
“We’re starting to kind of connect those dots, it’s looking like this is probably going to be the same individual. What’s good about this time was he made some mistakes,” he said. “They were going to be critical mistakes for someone who is out doing the stuff that he is doing. And they’re essentially going to lead to his arrest.”
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He said some of the mistakes included bringing the vehicle to the scene and he wasn’t able to flee with the response time officers had.
Fahning said they are “fairly certain” that the man they are looking at is the culprit.
“You know, I’d like to stand here in front of you and tell you there is no danger to the public. However, this individual has done this several times, so of course there’s going to be some danger to the public if he’s out at large,” he said. “But I can tell you this, we’re doing everything we can to bring this person in. Like I said, I feel very confident, based on the information that I have, that an arrest is going to be imminent.”
He said the culprit could be connected to two or three cases the department is investigating and the man is believed to be a Eustis resident.
“This is cowardice behavior. This is an individual who doesn’t care about anybody else, they only care about themselves,” he said.
Investigators said they were unable to determine whether the man was hit by the gunfire. Police have not released the identity of any possible suspects in this case.
A $5,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information that can lead to an arrest. If you have any information, you are asked to call the department.
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