POLK COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A man reported to be an Uber driver was shot and killed in a deputy-involved shooting after deputies said they discovered he had an outstanding warrant which led him ramming a patrol vehicle and later reaching for a stolen handgun.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect, identified as Larry Renaldo Riles, was spotted near Wabash Avenue and Memorial Boulevard after license plate readers detected he had an outstanding warrant for violating probation, Sheriff Grady Judd said during a Monday news conference.
Judd said Riles, 46, saw deputies and backed into a parking space in an attempt to conceal his license plate. Deputies said Riles refused repeated commands to exit the vehicle, prompting them to break a window and tase him.
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The sheriff’s office said Riles then rolled his vehicle forward, rammed a patrol vehicle and reached for a stolen 9 mm handgun, where he allegedly began chambering a round. Deputies opened fire, fatally shooting him.
“We were quicker than he was. There’s the quick and the dead, and the suspect’s dead because we saw this firearm and protected ourselves,” Judd said.
According to the sheriff’s office, this was not Riles’ first encounter with law enforcement. Judd said Riles was arrested in 2007 on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge in Hillsborough County, was arrested on a felony grand theft charge in Polk County in October 2025, and was arrested for violating probation in March 2026 after testing positive for methamphetamine.