Within 30 minutes, an emergency call to the Plant City Police department Thursday morning went from investigation to chase to death by shooting.
PCPD said two officers shot and killed the driver of a black Nissan Altima around 5:30 a.m. following a chase that ended in a crash at the BP gas station on Park Road and Alsobrook Street. The man driving, police said, has been identified as 35-year-old Jesus Cervantes, of Plant City. PCPD believe Cervantes placed an earlier call to 911 requesting police assistance.
It began around 5 a.m., PCPD Sgt. Al Van Duyne said. According to Van Duyne, a 911 call was initially picked up by the Hillsborough
County Sheriff’s Office and transferred to PCPD. The caller, police said, told the dispatcher he was being followed for two hours by an unknown vehicle and was in need of police assistance.
PCPD said they first responded to the area of Turkey Creek Road and State Road 574 on the westside of Plant City, near the Oakbrook Mobile Home Park. It was the last location given by the HCSO dispatcher. The call was still open and PCPD dispatchers attempted to get more information from the man on the line.
“The subject was not answering questions,” Van Duyne said. “He was at various times throughout the call crying, screaming and grunting.”
Police then said they were able to get a “couple of pings on the phone.” Those pings, Van Duyne said, are not reported in realtime and by the time officers responded to the areas, there were no signs of distress.
Around that time, he said, the call was disconnected and dispatchers unsuccessfully tried to call the man back. Shortly after, an officer saw a black Nissan Altima driven by Cervantes traveling at a high rate of speed and police pursued.
“When we don’t have definitive information, because our dispatchers weren’t able to get any, we will attempt to stop the vehicle and ascertain if they were, perhaps, the person in need of services,” Van Duyne said. “At the very minimum we have a subject that was speeding and driving very, very fast, as our officer advised.”
CJ Tenorio was in his truck on the way to work when, he said, he saw police chasing the Altima down Medulla Road. He said he was on Wiggins Road headed toward Rice Road and saw multiple vehicles fly through a stop sign at the intersection of Medulla and Wiggins roads.
"I saw a car and about 4 or 5 polices cars coming off County Line (Road) onto Medulla (Road) heading in the direction of where the man was shot," Tenorio said. "They were moving pretty good probably 55 or 60, maybe."
Van Duyne said an officer believed the vehicle was involved in the 911 call. Cervantes, he said, attempted to run an officer's vehicle off the road. Stop sticks were then used to disable the vehicle as it traveled along Coronet Road.
After the tires were deflated with stop sticks, police said Cervantes continued to drive down Coronet Road towards Park road, then lost control around the intersection of Park Road and Alsobrook Street, crashing into the BP station’s property. After the crash, police said officers surrounded the vehicle.
“As officers surrounded the vehicle, several commands were given for the driver to exit the vehicle and show his hands to police,” Van Duyne said. “These commands were ignored by the driver, as he went into the driver's side rear door for an unknown object. Fearing for their personal safety and that of the public, two officers discharged their firearms at the subject, striking him several times.”
Cervantes died at the scene. Police said no weapons have been recovered at this time. When police again called the number that initiated the 911 call, it rang inside the car.
“It came from in that car,” Van Duyne said. “We believe it was that person, the driver, calling, because there was only one person in the vehicle.”
According to records from HCSO and PCPD, Cervantes had been arrested twice before by PCPD. Once in July 2010 for domestic battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and again on Jan. 1, 2017 for domestic battery. Neither case was prosecuted.
According to HCSO records, Cervantes’ last known address was in the Oakbrook Mobile Home Park, where he was arrested in January. According to the park’s manager, Jessica Santos, Cervantes had family living in the park including in-laws and four daughters, but did not live there himself. Court records show he was evicted from Oakbrook’s lot 76 in February 2014.
Santos said Cervantes owned the home at lot 76, but was evicted for not paying lot rent. Santos said she had known Cervantes for 10 years and was shocked to learn he was killed. Despite a few family issues, she said he always seemed pleasant.
Even after the eviction, Santos said she would see Cervantes waiting to pick his daughters up from a bus stop at the mobile home park’s entrance or in nearby stores buying them snacks. He would always say hello and ask how she was doing and his daughters would hug her whenever they saw her, she said.
“I never thought he was that kind of person,” Santos said. “I’ve never seen him behave erratic. Even when I had to evict him, he was nice about it. There were no hard feelings. He understood I had to do my job.”
No officers were injured during the incident. The two officers involved in the shooting, Gerald Baker and Derek Hartmann have been placed on paid administrative leave. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney’s office are investigating.
Police said they have no witnesses at this time and are waiting to see if surveillance video from the gas station is available. The investigation is ongoing.