He crashed his car into an apartment complex. That was just the start, Florida cops say
A Central Florida man caused chaos and terror at an apartment complex in Wildwood early Sunday morning, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
A Facebook post says that deputies responded to the Sandalwood Apartments, located about an hour northwest of Orlando, at approximately 4 a.m. Multiple 911 calls had come in reporting that a car had crashed into one of the complex’s buildings and that the driver was breaking into people’s homes.
When deputies arrived, the suspect, later identified as Corey Payton, had already barricaded himself inside of a second story apartment he had been “burglarizing,” says the release.
After the 44-year-old began “threatening to shoot deputies,” the SCSO’s SWAT team helped evacuate several residents who were “considered to be in danger.”
Crisis negotiators also arrived to establish verbal contact with Payton trying to get him to surrender peacefully.
After several hours, the suspect dove out of the second floor unit, smashing to the ground.
Emergency crews were able to quickly initiate life-saving measures on the scene; Payton was flown to a regional trauma center by helicopter.
Inside of one of the apartments, deputies located the sliced-off ankle monitor assigned to Payton, who was on parole for burglary and on supervised release.
The defendant has a voluminous rap sheet, with a total of 139 prior felony charges and 30 total felony convictions.
Though the current charges are still under investigation, the sheriff says they will include burglary to an occupied dwelling, burglary to a dwelling and multiple counts of criminal mischief.
Once released from the hospital, Payton will be booked into the Sumter County Detention Center. The extent of his injuries are unknown.
This story was originally published June 12, 2023 at 1:15 PM.
