HARDEE COUNTY, Fla. — A Zolfo Springs man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after he shot at a deputy and ran away on Tuesday.
A Hardee County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to a call about a delayed domestic battery incident that violated a no-contact order on Tuesday night. The deputy called the victim who told him that Morgan Miguel Garcia, who was involved in the incident, arrived at the home and was armed.
Garcia, 28, was in the backyard of the house and armed with an AR-15 owned by the victim's father, according to a Facebook post by the sheriff's office.
The deputy told Garcia to drop the gun but Garcia started firing shots towards the deputy.
The family members who were home at the time took cover and the victim's father took out his handgun and started firing towards Garcia "fearing for his family's lives," deputies wrote.
Garcia fired shots into the door of the house before breaking through the window with the AR-15 and ran away.
More law enforcement from the sheriff's office and Wauchula Police Department responded to the shooting and established a perimeter to try to find and arrest Garcia. The sheriff's office's drone did an aerial search and police K-9s searched on the ground.
The sheriff's office's SWAT Team, two other county sheriff's offices and two other K-9 units also helped search for Garcia until 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. Later that day, the deputies received a tip about Garcia's location.
He was arrested and charged with a number of charges: aggravated assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer, shooting into a building, aggravated assault with a firearm, robbery with a firearm, attempted burglary while armed with a firearm, burglary with assault or battery, aggravated stalking, violating condition of pre-trial release, discharging a firearm in a residential area and criminal mischief.
“I am grateful to have reached a peaceful ending to this volatile situation," Sheriff Vent Crawford said.
Garcia also has charges filed against him for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, domestic battery by strangulation and sexual battery that were filed in January, according to court records.