The suspect was wounded once by a Plant City detective and a second time by a Polk County deputy.

HILLSBOROUGH/POLK COUNTIES – Polk County deputies shot and killed a man Wednesday (Jan. 15) who was accused of running over a Plant City detective earlier in the day.

A woman, who was with the suspect when he ran over the detective, was twice wounded – once by Plant City detectives and a second time by Polk deputies, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

The Plant City detective, whose name was not released, was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit. The Plant City Police Department said he sustained several internal injuries and multiple fractures.He has been with the Plant City Police Department for five years.

A second Plant City detective, Gaylyn Russell, who was with him when he was run over was not injured. Russell, a 12-year department veteran, was placed on paid administrative leave, in accordance with departmental policy.

Dead was Aaron Phillips,31, who was shot and killed by Polk deputies. Mr. Phillips had Hillsborough warrants for armed false imprisonment, kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and grand theft. He had just gotten out of state prison after four years and 10 months, Judd said.

Wounded was April Thompson, 36, who was in the backseat of a stolen vehicle when shooting broke out. She was taken to a Polk hospital to be treated for her two gunshot wounds – one to the leg inflicted by a Plant City police officer and one in the stomach inflicted by a Polk deputy. She was in stable condition, and was being held on her multiple felony charges until she can be taken to the Polk County Jail. Judd said she has a has a Polk County warrant for violation of parole on grand theft and burglary charges and a Hillsborough warrant for violation of parole on a drug-related charge.

The crime spree began about 11 a.m. Wednesday  in Plant City where police were conducting surveillance on a silver pickup truck and saw Thompson inside. Thompson had several felony warrants that included kidnapping, the Plant City Police Department said. The pickup drove into the parking lot of the United Food store, 1506 Sammonds Road, where two unmarked Plant City police vehicles tried to make a traffic stop on the pickup.

The driver, Mr. Phillips, tried to flee the scene by ramming both police vehicles with the truck. The driver then turned the truck towards one police detective and drove towards him, making him fear for his life. Both detectives fired at the truck while it was advancing on the detective. The pickup ran over the detective and fled the scene.

A short time later, about 11:15 a.m.,deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home in the 4000 block of Cooper Road in Plant City for a reported carjacking. A resident said a man and a woman in a silver pick up truck knocked at his door and pointed a gun at him when he answered, demanding the keys to his Toyota Tacoma. The resident complied and was not injured.

Judd, the Polk sheriff, said that, about 1 p.m., his department received a notice from Plant City that a man and a woman, both with warrants, had fled from the scene of an armed carjacking in a stolen Toyota Tacoma. The BOLO contained information that the suspects were armed and dangerous, and had fled after running over a Plant City police officer. The woman had been shot by a Plant City officer while the truck she was in with her boyfriend was fleeing.

Judd said his department also received further information that the two had committed a carjacking north of Plant City, in the unincorporated area, and were then in a Toyota truck.

About 1:40 p.m., a Polk County deputy who was in the Bailey Road area searching for the suspects, spotted the stolen blue truck and then encountered both suspects in another stolen vehicle, a black Volkswagen, within a trailer park on Bailey Place, just off of Bailey Road in the Willow Oak (Mulberry) area.

While trying to arrest Thompson, the man – Mr. Philllips – got out of the front passenger seat of the car, and went around to the other side to get into the driver’s seat. Mr. Phillips ignored the deputy’s commands to stop, and tried to flee with Thompson in the back seat.

While the deputy was trying to stop Mr. Phillips from driving away, he heard a female voice scream, “He’s got a gun!” several times. The deputy saw Mr. Phillips reach down towards the floorboard. Deputy Sheriff Andre Jackson, in fear for his life, shot and killed Mr. Phillips.

There is a handgun visible on the floorboard of the VW that Mr. Phillips was in, according to Judd. The car was being processed Wednesday night.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

PHOTO OF AARON PHILLIPS, LEFT, FROM HIS FACEBOOK PAGE COURTESY OF THE POLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE. PHOTO OF APRIL THOMPSON FROM A JAN. 18, 2019, ARREST COURTESY OF THE POLK COUNTY JAIL.

Plant City Police | Hillsborough Sheriff | Polk Sheriff | Crime | Police-Involved Shooting | Arrests | Aaron Phillips | Tampabay News | News Tampa

#PlantCityPolice #HillsboroughSheriff #PolkSheriff #Crime #PoliceInvolvedShooting #Arrests #AaronPhillips #TampabayNews #NewsTampa