Teen pointed rifle at Miami-Dade deputy before being shot, Sheriff’s Office says
The teen who was shot by a Miami-Dade deputy Monday night in Homestead pointed a semiautomatic rifle at the officer before the shooting, his arrest report shows.
The deputy and his colleagues were in the South Dade subdivision near Homestead-Miami Speedway around 9 p.m. tracking down a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV that was stolen at gunpoint from a nearby gym parking lot earlier in the night, according to Stephan Jones’ arrest report.
Jones, 18, along with Tyquawn Davis, also 18, and a 16-year-old boy, took part in the carjacking at Empire Fitness, located at the 27000 block of Southwest 12th Avenue around 8:15 p.m., per the report. The owner of the Tahoe had just dropped off her son at the gym for a fitness class and was waiting for him to finish while sitting in her vehicle, deputies say.
A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt covering his head approached her passenger side window holding a gun, the report states. She locked that door, but then another male opened the unlocked driver’s side door. He was also armed with a gun, deputies say.
He demanded her keys. She pointed to wear they were inside the car and ran inside the gym to call for help, the report states. A third male got into the Tahoe, and they all drove off.
The woman was able to use a Chevrolet app to track the car, and that information was relayed to the sheriff’s office, per the report. Deputies spotted the Tahoe in a newer portion of the Keys Gate subdivision around an hour later. And three males, all armed, ran from the Tahoe, the report shows.
Davis eventually stopped running and dropped his Glock handgun, deputies added.
But Jones, who was armed with the rifle, kept running as pursuing deputies demanded he stop and show his hands, his arrest report states. Jones, who deputies stated was holding the rifle “in a reckless manner,” eventually turned around with the weapon pointed at one of the deputies, who shot him, according to the report.
The Herald isn’t releasing the 16-year-old’s name due to his age, and his arrest report was not immediately available.
Paramedics took Jones to Jackson South Hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound to the arm, Undersheriff Christopher Carothers told reporters that night. He is now being held at Turner Guilford Correctional Center on several felony charges, including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and improper display of a firearm.
Davis is at the same jail on armed carjacking and resisting arrest charges.
Both Davis and Jones are being represented by the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s office, which submitted written pleas of not guilty Wednesday, according to court records.
The shooting is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The agency investigates all police-involved shootings in the state.
