Hit-And-Run Driver Shot While Trying to Mow Down Victim, Cops Say

A 21-year-old man faces criminal charges after Tampa Police say he struck a car, left the scene and then tried to mow down the victim.

The incident unfolded Tuesday around 1:15 a.m. when police say Keevon G. Smith was driving a Ford Explorer through the parking lot at the Broadmoore Apartments, 8700 N. 50th St. Police say Smith struck and damaged a blue Ford Fusion owned by Tyrone Lee Walker, 26, and then fled the scene.

The escape didn’t go off without a hitch, however. Walker spotted the crash and was able to get into another vehicle to follow the Explorer south on North 50th Street. He was able to confront Smith, police wrote in an email to media, when the Explorer stopped in the roadway.

“Smith tried to hit the victim with his SUV while Walker was attempting to exchange information with him,” police said. “Walker, who has a concealed weapons permit, shot at Smith while he was running out of the moving vehicle’s way in order to defend himself.”

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Smith was shot in the leg, but managed to drive to the corner of 49th and Diana streets where he contacted law enforcement, the email said.

Police investigators determined Smith was the man involved in the hit-and-run and charged him with leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after he received medical clearance from a local hospital.

Now, “detectives are actively working with the State Attorney’s Office to determine if charges are appropriate against Walker or if he was acting in self-defense,” the email said.

Smith was being held in the Hillsborough County Jail Tuesday in lieu of $2,250 bond. Smith has been arrested several times in the past on charges ranging from armed robbery to grand theft auto, according to jail records.

Booking photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

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