Standoff ensues after man tries to flee Tampa crash scene

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A busy Tampa intersection is back open again after a morning crash ended with a SWAT standoff and, eventually, an arrest.

It was just after 7:30 a.m. when, deputies say, a minivan heading northbound on Nebraska Avenue ran a red light and was hit by a car heading eastbound on Fletcher.  Both vehicles spun out, but the driver of the minivan kept going.

The van wound up on the curb and then tried to head south on Nebraska, but the vehicle was too damaged to continue any further.  It came to a stop as nearby deputies responded to try and help the driver.

"As they ran up to see if they could render aid to him, he indicated that he had a gun and that he was going to shoot or injure our deputies,” stated Maj. David Fleet of the sheriff’s office. 

Deputies backed off and eventually called in the SWAT team and negotiators.

"We ended up having to evacuate the street and shut all the traffic down during rush-hour," Fleet continued.

Fleet said the man continued to claim he had a gun and, at times, a knife.  At some point, he tossed a brick through a back window of the van.

An hour later, as the SWAT team was approaching the car, the man jumped through that broken back window and flopped to the pavement.  Fleet said the man refused to comply with requests to show his hands, so deputies sent a K9 in to subdue him.

The man – since identified by deputies as Eddie Carly Colon Soto, 39 – was taken into custody and hospitalized.  He’ll be charged with leaving the scene of a crash and reckless driving, and more charges will follow, deputies said.

Fleet said he was unaware of any actual weapons found at the scene.

The other driver in the initial crash, meanwhile, was also hospitalized but deputies said her condition was not immediately available.