A detective pinned to his car by a robbery suspect shot the man, Miami-Dade police say
A robbery suspect was shot, a child abuse suspect was arrested and a robbery detective was taken to Ryder Trauma Center with leg injuries after a Friday evening incident, Miami-Dade police say.
The detective wasn’t named. The robbery suspect he shot after, an arrest report says, the suspect pinned the officer between a Dodge Challenger and the officer’s cruiser is Liberty City’s Virgil French, 38. Police say French was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in stable condition, but by Saturday night, online Miami-Dade Corrections records said French had been moved to the Miami-Dade Pre-Trial Detention Center.
French faces charges of attempted second-degree murder on a law enforcement officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and third-degree grand theft with a firearm. “Virgil French” is one of the 12 aliases that the Florida Department of Corrections lists for Antwan Polite, who did a short prison turn for burglary and grand theft charges.
Riding shotgun with French, police say, was Liberty City’s Charlie Harris, who turned 40 last week. Miami-Dade police say they’ve been looking for him since March 4, when he allegedly “pushed a lit cigarette into the victim’s chest, causing a visible burn mark.”
The alleged victim was Harris’ 5-year-old son. Harris is charged with child abuse, which would be a violation of the 10-year probation he’s on right now for willful child abuse.
Stop, go, crash, shoot
The arrest report says French zoomed away from an attempted traffic stop at Northwest 70th Street and 18th Avenue. His escape from police, who gave up pursuit, lasted only until he ran his white Challenger into a wooden light pole at Northwest 63rd Street and 21st Avenue around 6:45 p.m.
Police say as the detective started walking toward French’s car, French drove the Challenger at the detective and pinned the law enforcement officer between the Challenger and the police car.
That’s when the officer fired his weapon, hitting the driver, according to a scenario described by Miami-Dade Det. Luis Sierra.
“It’s a scary situation,” Sierra said Friday night at a news conference at the scene, Miami Herald partner CBS News Miami reported. “Thankfully, the officer is going to be OK. I don’t know what the thought process was of the individual driving the vehicle.”
Another police-related shooting
This is the second officer-related shooting and a windshield peppered with bullet holes in Miami-Dade in a matter of days.
A gunfight between Miami-Dade police searching for a stolen car and an armed man they were trying to question about that car ended fatally Wednesday in the Redland farmland area, police said.
Two officers shot and killed the suspect, whose identity was not released.
“It’s a rude awakening of how dangerous it is, not only for our officers, but for officers around the world, when they go to work,” Det. Alvaro Zabaleta told the Herald on Nov. 29.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is available.
This story was originally published December 2, 2023 at 10:46 AM.
