Officer shot at suspect that allegedly rammed 2 officer's vehicles: LPD

Lakeland Police say a man allegedly rammed multiple police vehicles in a shopping plaza parking lot and fled from police.

Lakeland Police said they received calls around 12:45 p.m. Monday about a man who was asleep in a running car at a stop sign at 1700 Lakehurst Drive. Officers attempted to wake the man up, and when he awoke, he hit a vehicle with his car and left the area.

Police located the man again a short time later at a gas station at the 3400 block of US Highway 98 North, and the suspect allegedly fled a second time, according to police.

Then, at 1:20 p.m., police approached the vehicle and suspect in the parking lot of a shopping plaza at the 4200 block of US Highway 98. The man then allegedly rammed two police vehicles in the parking lot, and one officer fired several shots at the suspect, according to Lakeland Police.

The suspect then drove away from the strip mall and was chased by police onto US Highway 98 North. The suspect eventually crashed his car on Wegewood Estates Boulevard near Douglas M. Cook Park and was arrested.

Lakeland Police identified the suspect as John Alfred Hofman, 57, of Webster, FL. Hofman was taken to the hospital for evaluation. Hofman was not injured and was taken to Polk County Jail.

One officer sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from the hospital.

Hofman has outstanding arrest warrants in Sumter County and Volusia County and had a lengthy criminal history with 30 criminal charges and ten felony convictions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a consumer alert for replacement airbags that have killed at least three people in the past year. I-Team investigator Adam Walser discovered one victim was a young Florida mother whose family has filed a lawsuit alleging a counterfeit Chinese airbag exploded in her car and killed her.

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