Florida Deputies Injured After Man Uses Car as Weapon

Florida deputies injured when a man tried to use his car as a weapon, but he wasn't fast or furious enough to get away from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. According to WFTS, 28-year-old, Sean Bolton, wasn’t gonna let a little traffic stop slow him down when deputies tried to pull him over for illegal tint on his Chrysler 300 and blowing through a stop sign. Sean had othewr ideas…

So he took off. He wasn't ready to deal with the cops, so he hit the gas and fled the scene, disappearing into the Carriage Point subdivision. That’s when the fun really started. Florida Deputies, being smart, tracked him down. They were trying to lay out some stop sticks when Sean decided to crank up the crazy. He allegedly aimed his car at a deputy. That deputy, smart enough to know what was up, dodged out of the way.

But Sean wasn’t done. The Florida deputies tracked him to Ekker Road and Carriage Point Drive, trying to stop this wild ride without turning the streets into a demolition derby. Sean, of course, decided to up the ante by ramming not one, but two police vehicles on purpose. You know that didn’t sit well with the cops, so now they’re in full pursuit mode.

Even though the chase lasted less than a mile, that short distance was enough for Sean’s reckless driving to get a deputy’s car smashed into a tree and another to plow right into somebody’s backyard fence. To make matters worse, a fence post went flying through a deputy’s window, narrowly missing them!

Thankfully, it all ended when the deputies hit Sean with a PIT maneuver, bringing his ride to a stop. Three Florida deputies ended up with minor injuries, got checked out at Tampa General Hospital, and were sent home. But Sean? Well, he didn’t get off so easy. They hit him with a whole list of charges including aggravated assault on law enforcement, aggravated fleeing, possession of weed, and driving on a suspended license.

The Escambia County Sheriff Department has released body cam footage of Deputy Hollingsworth coming to the aid of a stranded motorist near Highway 98 which runs through Pensacola. This was during one of the many torrential rains we've seen across Florida lately. Not just in the panhandle, but down through Tampa and into Southwest Florida. We've all seen significant rain.

The Escambia County Sheriff's Department describes the event which happened on June 16th.

"Escambia County Deputy William Hollingsworth was on patrol and helping stranded motorists caught in rapidly rising waters. At one point, Deputy Hollingsworth exited his patrol car to approach a citizen who was trapped in these rising waters. As he approached, Deputy Hollingsworth witnessed the citizen go underwater and rushed to his aid without regard for his own safety. During the rescue attempt, both the citizen and Deputy Hollingsworth were sucked into a drainage pipe and were swept underneath the four-lane roadway of Hwy 98. They were submerged for approximately 30 seconds and traveled nearly 100 feet underwater. They eventually resurfaced on the other end of the roadway - lucky to be alive."

Pensacola has a LOT of rain last weekend, but c'mon. You'd never expect to sucked down into a storm drain. But to come out alive? Even more remarkable. The Sheriff does an intro, the body cam footage starts at around 1 minute.

They were submerged for about 30 seconds and traveled nearly 100 feet. I understand how the man was praying when he popped out on the other side. Also, thanks to Sheriff Chip Simmons I now know how to properly pronounce "Escambia."