The Tampa Police Department is investigating a shooting involving an officer and a stolen car suspect.
- Officers were conducting a traffic stop
- Suspect fled the scene in stolen car; crashed into tree
- Two officer fired at the suspect
At 9:30 p.m., officers conducted a traffic stop along Florida Avenue and Ida Street on a Toyota Corolla that had a missing headlight, according to police. The officers then determined that the car was stolen.
The driver, identified as 20-year-old Joel Alexander Cook, fled from the scene in the stolen car before crashing into a tree near a home on Floribraska and Tampa Street.
As officers tried to make contact with Cook, he put the car into reverse and backed into the front of one of the patrol cruisers, police said.
(Tampa Police Dept. via Twitter)
Two officers shot at the suspect. They have been placed on paid administrative leave.
Cook was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to police, Cook was recently released from the Hillsborough County Jail where he was serving time for grand theft of a motor vehicle.