By Mark Price
The Charlotte Observer
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — An armed robbery suspect trying to evade deputies made a daring choice to drop down the side of a six-story hotel, one floor at a time, according to video released by Florida investigators.
In a policy that Governor Gavin Newsom described as an “outlier,” Oakland only allows police pursuits when a suspect is armed with a gun or involved in a forcible violent crime
“There are a lot of hearts here connected to him,” Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman said. “He will always be a part of the sheriff family”
Nearly 30 officers worked to contain the protest as they were overwhelmed and pelted with feces, the union stated
The explosive — a pipe affixed to two aerosol cans — was a viable device that could have killed or maimed people had it detonated, an NYPD spokesman said
It happened Monday, July 22, at the Godfrey Hotel in Tampa, and Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister called the move “dramatic,” but futile.
“When detectives knocked on his door, he initially opened it but quickly locked it upon seeing them,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a July 23 Facebook post.
“Despite attempting to escape by jumping from balcony to balcony and descending from the sixth floor to the second floor, he was arrested and is now facing multiple charges.”
Video shows the 23-year-old man managed to avoid a catastrophic fall by easing over the railings to drop down one floor at a time.
A group of armed deputies and Tampa police stood in the parking lot below, watching his descent and encouraging him to give up.
The video has been viewed thousands of times on social media, and some commenters have noted the man displayed “Spider-man skills.”
The 23-year-old man listed the hotel as his home, jail records show. His charges include:
- Five counts of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling
- Resisting an officer without violence
- Felony petit theft
- Robbery with a firearm
- Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
- Robbery while wearing a mask with firearm or deadly weapon
- Armed kidnapping
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