TAMPA, Fla. — A man accused of choking a woman in an Applebee's parking lot is dead after he reportedly ran from police into the road where he was hit by a car.
It happened around 2:20 a.m. Friday on West Hillsborough Avenue near Lois Avenue. Officers said they responded to a parking lot near the Applebee's after getting calls about a man choking a woman.
A good Samaritan reportedly tried to intervene while police were on the way.
When they arrived, officers said they tried to talk to the man, later identified as 29-year-old Frank Rodriguez, but were ignored. Rodriguez reportedly started running away from officers as they tried to detain him using a Taser.
As the officer was firing the Taser, Rodriguez ran into Hillsborough Avenue and was hit by an oncoming car, police said. The driver didn't stop.
Detectives are now looking for a blue four-door sedan, possibly a Nissan Altima
Rodriguez died at the scene. The woman's injuries were not life-threatening.
Police said Rodriguez had pending felony charges for domestic violence and criminal mischief from a May 20, 2024, arrest in Hillsborough County.
Tampa Police Officer Luis Garcia, who responded to Friday's incident, has been placed on administrative leave — standard procedure for when someone dies in custody.
"We will turn that portion of the investigation, because it was an active arrest being made, over to FDLE, to assist us with that," Tampa police spokesperson Ruth Cate said during a news conference. "We'll consider it an in-custody death."
Because of the hit-and-run, the eastbound lanes of West Hillsborough Avenue were shut down between Lois Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway for several hours before opening just before 8 a.m.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached 24/7 at 800-799-7233.
10 Tampa Bay's Andrea Chu contributed to this report.