Hit-And-Run Driver Who Struck Deputy Arrested: Sheriff

TAMPA, FL — The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has announced the arrest of the man it says is responsible for striking one of its deputies with a car Friday morning.

Christopher Labissiere, 24, of the Sabal Park area was brought into custody Friday evening, the sheriff's office announced. He now faces aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, driving on a suspended license with knowledge, habitual traffic offender and hit-and-run, leaving the scene of a crash without serious injury charges.

The incident that led to Labissiere's arrest unfolded as Deputy Thomas Paradiso was conducting a traffic stop in the area of Morris Bridge Road and Copeland Road around 7:25 a.m. Friday, the sheriff's office reported. While he was handling that call, he heard several horns honking near him.

“Deputy Paradiso noticed a white vehicle, possibly a Mitsubishi, stopped with what appeared to be a driver slumped over the wheel,” a Friday morning email from the sheriff’s office said.

Paradiso knocked on the window and the driver, “a black male in 20s with dreadlocks and gold teeth became alert,” the sheriff’s office said. The man indicated that he was OK and Paradiso asked for his identification.

“As the driver was fumbling for identification, he took off striking Deputy Paradiso,” the email said. The car's rear tire ran over the deputy's foot and its rear bumper clipped his hip, the agency reported.

Paradiso, a 7 1/2-year veteran of the force, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

No further details are available at this time. A booking photo of Labissiere is not yet available. 

Image via Shutterstock

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