HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A suspicious-person call at a Publix parking lot escalated into a struggle with deputies after a man allegedly tried to flee and reached for a crowbar hidden in his waistband, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to the Publix in Lutz at about 6:39 p.m. July 28 after receiving reports of a man looking inside vehicles throughout the parking lot.
Body-camera video released by the sheriff’s office shows a deputy approaching 22-year-old Gonzalo Cabrera near the store’s entrance. The deputy tells Cabrera that someone called law enforcement about him and begins questioning him about what he was doing in the parking lot.
According to the sheriff’s office, Cabrera refused to identify himself and resisted deputies’ attempts to detain him.
The video shows a second deputy arriving before deputies move to take Cabrera into custody. A struggle follows, with Cabrera and the deputies falling to the pavement as they attempt to restrain him.
Investigators said Cabrera struck a deputy while trying to escape. Even after deputies took him to the ground, the sheriff’s office alleges Cabrera continued resisting and reached toward a crowbar concealed in his waistband.
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Deputies eventually placed Cabrera in handcuffs. No serious injuries were reported in the sheriff’s office’s post.
Cabrera was arrested on charges including battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, resisting an officer without violence, possession of burglary tools, loitering or prowling, trespassing and disorderly conduct.