Chase ends with driver fatally shot
Man attempted to ram Jeep into officers, cops say
A Friday morning commute ended violently when a man was shot dead by officers after ramming into other drivers and trying to hit cops, according to Hollywood Police.
The trouble started at about 8:30 a.m. with a person reporting a reckless driver heading down Federal Highway near Sheridan Street in Hollywood.
Officers tried to stop the Jeep Grand Cherokee at Johnson Street. But the driver took off, hitting a white minivan and another vehicle as he headed south, Hollywood Police Chief Tomas Sanchez said.
The driver, whose name has not been released, then stopped the Jeep and officers got out of their cars, ready to arrest the man, police said.
“That confrontation, the suspect used his vehicle to try to hit officers, just like he was doing during the pursuit, trying to hit other cars,” Sanchez said.
He said officers tried three times to stop and arrest the man. The last time ended with police shooting the man dead near Northeast Sixth Street and Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach.
“The last confrontation, unfortunately, the officers were left with no other alternative but to discharge their firearms for their safety and they shot the suspect multiple times,” Sanchez said.
Efren Rivera was walking to a gas station near North Federal Highway and Northeast Seventh Street for a cup of coffee when he thought he heard fireworks. They were actually gunshots.
“When I got a little closer to the store ... I heard more gunshots. That’s when I realized there was something going on,” he said.
Rivera ducked and, when the gunshots stopped, sprinted across Federal Highway
to the gas station and saw police coming “from every direction.”
He thinks he heard about 20 shots.
“I was pretty frightened, but the officer got him,” Rivera said.
Federal Highway was shut down near the shooting scene well into Friday afternoon. Bullet holes could be seen in the Jeep’s windows.
The man died at the scene, and the investigation into the shooting has been turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Sanchez said.
“Thank God all our officers are doing good,” Sanchez said.
Police are also asking for anyone who witnessed the crash, along with the drivers of a gray or silver Dodge Caravan and a white van to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.