Lakeland police shoot at man who fled several times and rammed their cars

A Webster man fled from Lakeland police multiple times on north side of town on Monday, at one point ramming officers' cars until one officer shot at him several times.

Police said in a Wednesday night news release that the incident started at 12:41 p.m. when officers responded to calls about a man who appeared to be incapacitated behind the wheel of his white Lincoln sedan. When officers arrived, John Alfred Hofman, 57, of Webster was at a stop sign with his car running in the 1700 block of Lakehurst Street, in the neighborhood just south of Tigertown.

When officers tried to make contact, he awoke and fled, striking another vehicle on his way, police said. The officers didn't pursue, but found Hofman a short time later at a gas station in the 3400 block of U.S. 98 North. Once again they tried to stop him, and again Hofman fled, the news release said. They did not pursue.

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At 1:18 p.m. Hofman's vehicle was seen parked at the Village Plaza parking lot in the 4200 block of on U.S. 98. As officers approached, Hofman climbed from the back seat into the front seat and repeatedly rammed two officers’ vehicles while trying to flee, police said. Officer DeAngelo Anthony fired several times at the suspect.

Hofman fled again onto U.S. 98, police said. This time, officers pursued him. He drove south and turned onto Wedgewood Estates BoulevardT where he crashed near Douglas M. Cook Park, according to the release. He was arrested and taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, but he suffered no obvious injuries. He was then taken to the Polk County Jail.

Several officers were involved in the interactions with Hofman on Monday, including Anthony, the one who fired a Hofman while he rammed patrol cars; Detective Joshua Dorofy, Officer Ranger Hughes, Officer Nicholas Buttrey and Officer Janae McGrath.

One officer suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from LRH. LPD said Tuesday afternoon that it didn't yet have information on how the officer was injured.

LPD planned to charge Hofman with fleeing to elude an officer and leaving the scene of a crash with property damage.

LPD said the Tenth Judicial Circuit Officer Involved Deadly Incident Task Force is investigating the shooting. LPD said more charges might be filed by that unit.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland police shoot at man who fled several times and rammed their cars