HAINES CITY, Fla. – A 17-year-old boy who allegedly reached for a gun in a stolen vehicle Friday night is in critical condition after being shot by a Haines City police officer, according to the city’s police chief and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
Judd joined Haines City police Chief Gregory Goreck for a news conference late Friday to discuss the shooting and the vehicle pursuit that led to it. The boy — identified as Javier Najera, of Lake Hamilton — was a passenger in a stolen vehicle driven by 19-year-old Victor Espinoza-Rodriguez, of Haines City, who was arrested, Judd said. News 6 is naming the 17-year-old due to the circumstances of the case.
Recommended Videos
According to Goreck, a Haines City police officer around 7 p.m. located a 2014 Nissan Versa that had been reported stolen in the last 24 hours. Following the car a short distance until backup arrived, a traffic stop was then attempted.
“It’s very important to understand that at this point, the people driving that vehicle could have ended this and stopped this by pulling over and doing the right thing. They chose instead to flee,” Goreck said. “Now, my officers realized that this vehicle is a 2,400-pound missile (that) could place other lives in danger, so they did attempt to stop the vehicle and they initiated a pursuit.”
After a short distance, Goreck said that the Nissan struck another vehicle near the intersection of Highway 27 and Polk City Road. The pursuit led into what the police chief described as a very populated area, at which point the officers reportedly stopped following the car.
As the Nissan emerged back onto Highway 27, Goreck said that a nearby deputy was ready to deploy stop sticks from the side of the road. The Nissan was recklessly driven into the grass and over the stop sticks as Haines City officers reinitiated the pursuit, according to the police chief.
The Nissan reached speeds of up to 100 mph northbound on Highway 27 and at one point struck another vehicle before a Haines City officer requested permission to execute a PIT maneuver, Goreck said. The PIT left the Nissan on the shoulder of the road, where officers could now approach it.
“During that encounter, my officer was forced to engage in a deadly encounter with the suspect and had to fire his firearm, OK? The suspect was reaching for a firearm and the suspect was immobilized and was able to be taken into custody. That was the passenger in the vehicle. The driver was also taken into custody,” Goreck said.
At the onset of the news conference, Judd said that the Polk County Sheriff’s Office was leading the investigation as the sheriff explained he was in charge of the 10th Judicial Circuit’s Officer Involved Deadly Incident (OIDI) Task Force. The investigation is ongoing, Judd said, adding it involves scrutiny of Espinoza-Rodriguez’s alleged “gang status” given tattoos seen on his person.
“They should be just kids — one just graduating from high school and the other may be preparing to graduate from high school — but that’s not what you have here,” Judd said.
Najera was in emergency surgery at the time of the news conference, Judd said.
The car was stolen around 8 a.m. Friday from a victim in Poinciana who left the keys inside and the door unlocked, Judd said, claiming Espinoza-Rodriguez and Najera had only to “walk through the neighborhoods long enough until they found the vehicle,” in order to take it.
According to the sheriff, the gun that Najera allegedly reached for was a 9mm Smith & Wesson. Judd said it was unknown where the Smith & Wesson was obtained, partly because it was not reported stolen, advising anyone who “had a handgun stolen in the last few hours” to get in contact with investigators “so we can add more charges.”
Judd also mentioned a bong, cannabis and THC cartridges that were allegedly located in the Nissan, taking the moment to speak out against a proposed amendment to Florida’s constitution seeking to legalize recreational use of marijuana for adults. Proponents of the measure point to the potential benefits of taxing, regulating and making clean business of recreational marijuana in Florida by drawing money and supply away from the black market, but Judd at the conference urged listeners to call such proponents “a liar to their face.”
For Espinoza-Rodriguez, Judd said that the 19-year-old already has 11 felony charges, six misdemeanors and three probation violations.
“That includes drugs, burglary, and one year ago this month he was charged with what? Fleeing to elude law enforcement. He’s a bad guy,” Judd said.
Judd went on to say Najera has had four misdemeanors, a felony and five probation violations.
“Our juvenile has no inclination to obey the law. When he’s given a break by being placed on probation, they’ve had to violate him five different times. He has charges from drugs to resisting to battery,” Judd said.
Information regarding the latest exact charges to be filed against Espinoza-Rodriguez or Najera was not available at the time of this report. Judd said charges were on the table regarding felony possession of marijuana with intent to sell, as well as those related to the stolen vehicle and multiple counts of aggravated assault due to the firearm and the other vehicles which were struck during the pursuit.
The sheriff identified Sean Bruner as the “hero Haines City police officer” who shot Najera.
“He’s a five-year veteran. He’s an exceptionally outstanding police officer. He was the one who placed his life in danger, who stood in the gap between good and evil to stop these violent felons from their conduct, and he’s to be commended,” Judd said.
Neither Bruner nor any other law enforcement officers who responded were injured, the sheriff said.
Judd claimed it wasn’t Bruner who chose to shoot Najera, but that it was the other way around.
“The officer didn’t choose to shoot these folks — or shoot at them, Victor was not hit — they chose for the officer to shoot and that’s exactly what happened,” Judd said.
Watch the news conference again in the video player below:
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: