MCSO: Manatee deputy fires twice at suspect after being pinned, dragged by vehicle
Brandon Sharp mugshot courtesy of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
SARASOTA, Fla. - A Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy is on paid administrative leave after the agency says he fired two shots at a suspect who is accused of using a vehicle to pin the deputy, knock him to the ground and drag him several hundred yards.
According to MCSO, the deputy spotted a man, later identified as 38-year-old Brandon Sharp, traveling 37 miles per hour in a 20-mile-per-hour zone near Kinnan Elementary School.
As the deputy tried to stop the vehicle, Sharp allegedly made a U-turn heading east on Tallevast Road. That’s when MCSO says another deputy joined the slow-moving traffic and followed Sharp until he stopped several hundred yards away.
According to investigators, as deputies approached Sharp, he rolled up his window. When a deputy opened the driver’s door to get him out, deputies say Sharp accelerated and the deputy was pinned by the car door, knocked to the pavement, and dragged.
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MCSO says when the deputy recovered, he fired two shots at Sharp’s vehicle as it drove away, striking the car, but not the suspect.
Afterward, Sharp is accused of leading deputies on a slow-speed pursuit to his home located on the 6300 block of Prospect Road where he stopped the vehicle and refused to get out or comply with commands.
According to MCSO, the driver’s door was smashed and Sharp was pulled from the car. However, deputies say he still resisted deputies so they tased him.
Sharp, who was the only person in the vehicle, has been charged with speeding in a school zone, fleeing to elude, obstruction, and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
The deputies were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The deputy who fired shots is now on routine paid administrative leave while an investigation into the shooting, and an internal investigation are conducted.