LAKELAND, Fla. – The Latest on a Florida fugitive who died after exchanging gunfire with detectives (all times local):
1:25 p.m.
A Florida sheriff says a 32-year-old fugitive is dead following an exchange of gunfire with detectives.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says Francis Perry died at a hospital in Lakeland on Thursday morning, hours after officers with a multi-agency drug task force pulled him over.
The sheriff says Perry refused to roll down his dark-tinted car windows, so a detective finally smashed a passenger window. Judd says that's when Perry fired at them with a handgun, and all four detectives fired back, at least 28 times.
The officers performed CPR until medics arrived and took Perry to the hospital.
Records show Perry was arrested 20 times in as many years, starting with a shoplifting charge when he was 10. He served three stints in prison, and was a self-declared white supremacist. Judd says the detectives found thousands of dollars worth of methamphetamines in the car.
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10:25 a.m.
A Florida sheriff says detectives wounded a fugitive in an exchange of gunfire after stopping his car.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd tells local news outlets that a multi-agency drug task force pulled over Francis Perry, a self-described white supremacist who served time for meth possession and assault, on a fugitive warrant Wednesday evening. Detectives said they found a "trafficking amount" of what appears to be methamphetamine in the car.
The sheriff says Perry fired first, through his tinted windows, and the detectives fired back, wounding him multiple times. There was no immediate word on his condition. The officers were not hurt.
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