Man Killed In Officer-Involved Shooting ID'd

PLANT CITY, FL — An early Thursday morning 911 call from a man in distress sparked a chain of events that ended with an officer-involved shooting death in Plant City.

According to the Plant City Police Department, its communications center received a 911 call around 5 a.m. July 6 from a man who said he needed help because he was being chased by unknown people. The chase, an email from police said, had reportedly gone on for two hours.

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“As dispatchers attempted to gather additional information, the phone line was left open by the caller,” the email said. Over the open line, authorities heard an unknown male voice grunting, crying and screaming, police said.

Dispatchers’ attempts to find out more about the man’s location, however, failed. Authorities tried to trace the call, but found the phone was mobile.

Officers were dispatched to the caller’s last known location, the email said. “Before the caller could be positively identified, the caller disconnected the call.”

Dispatchers tried to call the number back, but there was no response.

At that time, officers in the field dispatched to the original location saw a black Nissan Altima traveling at a high rate of speed. The car’s driver, police say, attempted to run an officer off the road.

Other units were told of the encounter and the Altima’s “tires were deflated in an attempt to disable it,” the email said. The driver, however, kept going westbound on Coronet Road. At the intersection of Park Road and East Alsobrook Street, police say the Altima’s driver lost control and went onto the property of a BP gas station.

Officers immediately surrounded the vehicle when it stopped and ordered the driver to get out and show his hands, the email said.

“These commands were ignored by the driver as he went into the driver’s side rear door for an unknown object,” the email added. “Fearing for their personal safety and that of the public, two officers discharged their firearms at the subject.”

Jesus Cervantes, 35, was hit several times and died at the scene, authorities say.

The agency has not released the names of the officers involved. It is currently unclear if Cervantes is the man who also called 911.

No further information is available at this time.

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