Shoppers in north Lakeland witnessed a police-involved shooting Monday during the lunch hour rush when a 57-year-old Webster man, wanted on felony charges, led Lakeland Police Department officers on a slow-speed chase through several shopping center parking lots. He was ultimately captured in a neighborhood park.
Wanted suspect: Police say the suspect, John Alfred Hofman, repeatedly rammed two officers’ vehicles as he fled. That’s when one officer fired several times at the suspect.
Asleep at the wheel: The incident began along Lakehurst Street between Lakeland Hills Boulevard and Lake Parker just after 12:30 p.m. Lakeland Police responded to several calls of a man behind the wheel of an old white Lincoln sedan who appeared to be incapacitated. The vehicle was stopped at a stop sign with the engine still running.
When LPD officers tried to talk with the suspect, he woke up and stepped on the gas, hitting a nearby citizen’s vehicle with his car as he fled. Officers did not pursue him, but spotted him a short time later at a gas station in the 3400 block of U.S. Highway 98 North and attempted to stop him again. The suspect fled a second time. LPD decided not to follow him because of the crowded roadway.
Found in parking lot: At 1:18 p.m., the suspect’s vehicle was located parked at the Village Plaza parking lot — home to Hobby Lobby, Big Lots and Party City. As officers approached the vehicle again, the suspect climbed from the back seat into the front seat and drove at two officers’ patrol cars, repeatedly ramming them as he fled again. One officer fired several times at the suspect, but Hofman was not hit.
The officer’s body camera, if it wasn’t already on, automatically started when the officer removed the gun from its holster.
A bystander video shows three marked patrol vehicles pursuing the car with two flat tires and an open trunk through the neighboring Best Buy, Jo-Ann’s and Beall’s parking lots. The LPD vehicles’ lights were flashing and sirens blaring.
Hofman sped out onto U.S. Highway 98 North, then to Wedgewood Estates Boulevard, where he crashed into a cinderblock wall near Douglas M. Cook Park.
Sent to Lakeland Regional Health: One officer sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center.
Hofman was arrested and taken to LRH for evaluation, but sustained no obvious injuries.. Afterwards, he was taken to the Polk County Jail.
Charges: In addition to charges Hofman will face for this incident, he had felony arrest warrants from Sumter County and Volusia County, including fleeing to elude and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Lakeland Police said Hofman’s history includes more than 30 criminal charges and 10 felony convictions.
Investigation: The 10th Judicial Circuit Officer-Involved Deadly Incident Task Force is investigating the matter. The officer who fired at Hofman is on paid administrative leave.
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