Suspected auto thief fatally shot by Tampa police; 3 arrested

Police say a suspected vehicle thief was fatally shot after he who fought with an officer and tried to drown a police dog in suburban Tampa.

One person pulled over in a stolen SUV was critically wounded by police gunfire early Monday morning and three more people were taken into custody after a Tampa police officer and police dog were attacked following a chase of a stolen vehicle, authorities said.

Police spokesman Steve Hegarty said during an early-morning press conference that close to 50 officers and a Tampa police helicopter took part in the search for the female suspect.

The suspects are all “fairly young”, according to Hegarty, likely in their late teens.

It all started at around 2:30a.m. when a Tampa Police officer ran a tag on a vehicle and it came back as stolen.

A helicopter assisted officers on the ground in pursuit of the suspects, all of them teenagers. The SUV stopped behind a church and the suspects ran into a swampy area.

Two men were quickly captured. The SUV was located near Nebraska and Lake avenues and had four suspects inside.

Three tracking dogs were brought in and one followed a suspect into the swamp, and in chest deep water struggled with the dog and officer, just before the shot rang out.

The suspects then got out and attempted to get away, running off into what was described as a swampy, wooded area with chest-high water.

The suspect was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital with life threatening injuries.

Hegarty was unsure whether it was the dog’s handler who shot the suspect or another officer. He also couldn’t say if any of the suspects were armed.

The names of the officers involved were not immediately released.

The officer and dog did not suffer serious injuries, but both are being checked out by medical personnel, the agency noted.

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