Deputy Shoots At Car After Being Dragged By It: Manatee Sheriff

SARASOTA, FL — A deputy opened fire after being dragged by a car during a traffic stop near a Sarasota elementary school, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The deputy saw a driver going 37 in a 20-mph school zone Wednesday near Marjorie G. Kinnan Elementary School around 2:15 p.m.

As the deputy tried to pull over the car, the driver made a U-turn heading east on Tallevast Road. Another deputy joined the slow-moving traffic and followed the vehicle until it stopped several hundred yards away, the sheriff’s office said.

As they approached the car, the driver, later identified as 38-year-old Brandon Sharp, rolled up his window and one of the deputies opened his door to get him out, according to MCSO.

While this was happening, Sharp accelerated and the deputy was pinned by the car door, knocked to the pavement, and dragged, the agency said.

When the deputy, who hasn’t been identified, recovered, they fired two shots from an issued firearm at the vehicle as it drove away, the sheriff’s office said. Both bullets hit the vehicle, but not the driver.

Sharp then led deputies on a slow-speed pursuit to his home address in the 6300 block of Prospect Road, where he stopped the vehicle and refused to get out or comply with commands.

The driver's door window was smashed, and Sharp, the only occupant in the vehicle, was pulled from the car. He continued to resist deputies and had to be tased.

Sharp is charged with speeding in a school zone, fleeing to elude, obstruction, and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, MCSO said.

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, the sheriff's office said.