Deputies: Man dies after attempted carjacking, home invasion

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A car crash, three attempted carjackings, and an attempted home invasion led to a man's death Tuesday at the hands of a deputy according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Witnesses said someone driving a pickup truck caused a three-car crash on Gibsonton Drive in which the pickup truck rolled and an SUV landed on its roof.

Investigators said one of the drivers ran away and headed for the parking lot of a nearby Lowe's Home Improvement store where he tried to carjack two people. The man then tried to carjack a third driver in a the parking lot of a Ruby Tuesday's restaurant next door.

According to deputies, following three unsuccessful carjackings, the man continued into a neighborhood on Oakridge Avenue and attempted to break into several vehicles and homes.

As this was unfolding, a witness had a 911 dispatcher on the line.

"He potentially saved more victims from being injured or hurt," said Col. Donna Lusczynski. "This guy was trying, again, to get into someone's house where they were in at the time. And we were able to get here quickly due to his efforts."

A homeowner watched from inside his house as the man was confronted by a deputy.

"When I looked through the peep hole I saw the guy running, I saw the cop pull up in my yard and he went right

to the cop car," said Steve Leske. "The cop was trying to get out. He barely had the door open and that's when [the suspect] threw the brick and it made a hole right where the cop would be."

Leske said, had the window on the deputy's cruiser not been rolled up, the brick could have hit him in the head.

The deputy fired his gun, killing the suspect. The suspect, described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, has not yet been identified.