ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Two suspects on the run after a deputy-involved shooting were taken into custody Thursday evening with help from local homeowners.
Two Orange County uniformed deputies in a special unit were driving an unmarked SUV along Lee Road west of Interstate 4 when they initiated a traffic stop at 3:21 p.m., said sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson.
The two pulled the vehicle over at the Eurotel Inn. As the deputies got out of their SUV, the suspect vehicle slammed into their vehicle several times and nearly ran over the deputies, forcing the deputies to open fire, said Williamson.
Witnesses heard as many as six gunshots before seeing the deputies chase the suspects toward I-4, but those deputies eventually lost track of the suspects, until they ended up in a residential area of Casselberry.
As police and deputies raced around the neighborhood, children watched a man jump over a fence and told the family who lives at the house.
"I was freaked out," said Alex Clark, who watched the suspect hiding in his backyard on his home security system. "We were in our front yard and we didn't know he was still in the back."
"My son was scared and I was really scared," said Chris Clark. "I told him to lock the doors and I flagged the cops down because they're right down the street."
In seconds their backyard became the end of the road for a man who ran from the car he and his accomplice crashed. Witnesses said deputies told them it was the same car used to ram the deputies at the Eurotel Inn.
The suspects fled but ended up among homeowners who were not about to let potential criminals hide.
Robert Bush watched the swarm of cops chase the suspect car before it crashed into nearby woods, and directed deputies to where the suspects had gone.
"You can't fight the law. If you fight the law, you're going to lose," said Bush.
The deputies were not injured but they will be placed on administrative leave while authorities investigate the shooting.
Nicolas Todd Joy was charged in the incident with grand theft auto fleeing and eluding domestic aggravated battery, and has other charges pending, deputies said.