By Jessica De Leon and Amaris Castillo
The Bradenton Herald
BRADENTON, Fla. — A Bradenton police officer shot a man who tried to run her down with his car around 3:10 p.m. Thursday before driving away and causing seven crashes on one of the county’s busiest roadways, according to authorities.
The wounded man sped from the scene after hitting the officer with his car but was later captured after causing a string of crashes on Cortez Road in Bradenton, according to Police Chief Michael Radzilowski.
Cortez Road remained shut down for about four hours until shortly after 6 p.m.
The incident started when Sgt. Anthony Ramdath and Officer Nasheka Craddock went to Casa Mora Rehabilitation and Nursing Care, 1902 59th St. W., to investigate a harassment complaint.
During the investigation, Jarques Randall, 23, Bradenton, was issued a trespass warning and directed to leave and not return. Randall drove off.
Randall later was seen by Ramdath walking back to Casa Mora and the sergeant tried to arrest him. Craddock arrived just as the suspect ran and jumped into a car.
Before the suspect’s car left its parking spot, Craddock told Randall to get out of the car. He refused and the car hit the officer as it pulled away.
Craddock managed to fire “multiple shots, which struck the suspect,” according to an officer involved report issued by the Bradenton Police Department at 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
The suspect drove south on 59th Street West where a helicopter from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office joined in the pursuit.
If you look closely, you can see bullet hole in windshield of suspect’s vehicle. @heraldtribune pic.twitter.com/8va1Jfwu4G
— Elizabeth Johnson (@_ejohnson_) January 8, 2015
Following the final crash, the car became disabled at the intersection of Cortez Road and 37th Street West. Bradenton police officers and Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies were then able to apprehend him.
Randall sustained several gunshot wounds and other injuries and was operated on at Blake MedicalCenter where he is recovering, according to police.
Criminal charges are pending as well as civil and criminal traffic charges, according to BPD.
Craddock sustained leg injuries, Radzilowski said, and was treated and released from Blake Medical Center.
William Boettner was on his way home on Cortez Road West when he witnessed the pursuit. The 43-year-old business owner said he pulled into the nearby plaza after the suspect and a police officer sped by.
“I heard fire and I just sat and ducked,” the Ruskin resident said, adding he later saw a juvenile and the suspect being pulled out of the car.
“It’s crazy,” he said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement responded to take over the investigation, per department protocol when an officer is involved in a shooting.
Manatee deputies and Florida Highway Patrol troopers were on scene at Cortez to assist.
Drivers involved in the crashes waited for officers or troopers to take their information.
“I believe I was fortunate enough to be the first one he hit at the intersection by Walmart,” Charlie Smith said. “The police car was not more than a minute behind.”
Update: Officer shot and wounded man who tried to run over her at Bradenton hospital. http://t.co/cnl3bNCfti pic.twitter.com/WTjpxrW5hX
— Herald-Tribune (@HeraldTribune) January 8, 2015
The Bradenton resident said he was on the way to help someone with an electrical issue when he was practically pushed out of the way, he said.
“Once he hit me, all the traffic kind of stopped,” Smith said. “He was just going, he was flying.”
Smith said he was happy the damage to his truck was minimal.
“He was so fast when he came around me I couldn’t get his plate number,” Smith said.
Shards of glass and car parts still littered Cortez Road near the intersection just before 3:30 p.m., where the Honda Civic driven by the suspect finally conked out. More car debris was scattered farther down the road toward 43rd Street West where traffic was still being directed by police shortly before 4 p.m.
The right-front side of the suspect vehicle was crushed inward. It was later towed by Barfield’s Wrecker Service.
Chris Teele, owner and operator of Sarasota Beverage Corp., was looking in on clients when he struck in the suspect’s path.
“I heard an accident and by that time I realized someone was not trying to avoid an accident,” Teele said.
Teele said he could see the suspect was determined to get through, no matter what he hit along the way.
“He bounced off the car next to me,” he said, “then hit mine.”
At one point, police said the suspect’s car was on two wheels after hitting one vehicle and then dropped back down.
Schools near Blake Medical Center were put on lockdown briefly during the incident, according to Radzilowski.
John Leibowitz, 43, stood behind the yellow tape by the crime scene at 37th Street West and Cortez Road. This is his neighborhood.
“We don’t need any more cops being killed or hurt or injured,” he said.
As examples, Leibowitz mentioned the recent deaths of Tarpon Springs Officer Charles Kondek and New York officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos.
“I know they do their job, but so much tragedy has happened in the last year or so and I watch it all the time,” Leibowitz said. “I’ve lived in this area for a long time ... The police department show up. When they get somebody, they get them. They nail them.”
Leibowitz said the shooting worries him, but he still feels safe because so many law enforcement officers are in the area.
“What scares me is when people like this have weapons in their hand — when they have a gun in their hand or they use a deadly weapon and they try to do this to a cop — or anybody,” he said. “It’s not right. It makes me feel, not just anger, but upset because I feel bad for the bystanders.”
He said the incident could have been a lot worse.
“Now you got seven people that have cars that are literally banged up — there could have been kids in the car. And there was a school down there too,” he said. “It’s not right.”
Justin Alday, 37, stood beside his daughter, Alexis, 18. Father and daughter walked from their home to see firsthand what was going on.
“My daughter, she’s fixing to start the academy to be a cop and I told her, I said: ‘You know, with this world it seems like everyday more and more crazy things are happening’ — and it’s more or less to do with drugs,” he said. “People’s got addictions and they do what they have to do to get the drug and I think that’s what’s making everybody go crazy.”
Across Cortez Road West, Gene O’Neil stood by his car observing the scene. The 66-year-old retiree had just left a doctor’s appointment at HealthCare America in the plaza when he saw multiple helicopters hover above. He said he saw a juvenile and the female police officer being taken away by ambulance.
“It’s our police officers doing their job and it shows that their lives are at-risk at anytime,” O’Neil said. “She’s doing her job and it’s an unfortunate tragedy — but that’s part of the job. Just think what we would do if we didn’t have the police.”
Copyright 2015 The Bradenton Herald