MULBERRY, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating after one of its deputies shot a man accused of stealing a trailer and heavy equipment during an altercation.
Sheriff Grady Judd said his office received a call around 11:50 a.m. Friday from the Lakeland Police Department about a truck with stolen equipment being spotted in Mulberry.
According to the sheriff, Mulberry is one of their contact cities and is staffed by deputies to work within the city limits.
The sheriff's office says Lt. Laura Rhodes was able to make contact with the driver, identified as 47-year-old Michael Jeremy Hatfield, and had a "confrontation" with him. Judd says during their interaction, the driver refused to show his hands.
Judd adds there was a knife in the Hatfield's door at the time of their "encounter."
At some point, Rhodes was reported to have gotten caught up in the truck's door as Hatfield was trying to fight her off and get away. It's then Judd says she fired one time, hitting Hatfield in the hip.
Hatfield then sped off while Rhodes jumped from the truck to "clear it," according to the sheriff's office. He'd later stop about two blocks away before seeking law enforcement help for his gunshot wound.
"Interestingly enough, the guy that tried to hurt my deputy — my lieutenant — and tried to get away with his stolen equipment was now seeking the law enforcement officers because he was bleeding and he feared that he may bleed out," Judd said.
Once EMS was called, Judd says Hatfield "didn't want to fight anymore" and was cooperative. He was taken to Lakeland Regional where the sheriff's office says he is in emergency surgery. Judd reports that Hatfield is expected to recover.
He will be booked into the Polk County Jail after being released from the hospital, the sheriff's office reports.
The truck is registered to Hatfield and has California plates but he is currently living in Bradenton, according to Judd.
“I’m not sure if they think it’s OK in California to fight with the deputies, to violently resist arrest, to try to leave at all costs regardless of the safety of the deputies or not," Judd said. "But there was some behavior modification here today when this guy violently resisted our lieutenant.”
According to Judd, Rhodes is OK and possibly bruised her wrist during the altercation.
It's unclear what charges the unnamed driver faces as investigators continue to work two crime scenes and obtain a search warrant for the truck.
The sheriff's office does note that Hatfield does have a criminal history which includes drug-related arrests out of California and an arrest in Hillsborough County for felony burglary, felony grand theft and felony abuse of an elderly or disabled adult.