Deputies: Man Throws Shoe, Strikes Officer to Get Away

A Dunedin man was arrested Friday for allegedly striking a Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy in December.

Deputies report that Raafi Rashaad Hutchinson, 20, of 14 New York Ave, was behaving suspiciously when they approached him outside his home shortly before 10 p.m. on Dec. 26. The deputy reported smelling "the distinct odor of unburnt marijuana," and noticed Hutchinson attempting to hide tennis shoes inside a vehicle, according to Pinellas County arrest records.

The deputy reports that Hutchinson tried to run away as he attempt to arrest him for tampering with physical evidence.

Hutchinson allegedly attempted to pull away several times and threw one of his shoes in the front yard, where his sister subsequently picked it up and carried it inside the home, arrest records report.

The deputy alleges that Hutchinson continued to "physically oppose" him and repeatedly pushed him while he tried to arrest him. That is when Hutchinson, who is a 5-foot-10, 160-pound man, allegedly struck the deputy's wrist and managed to break free. Hutchinson then reportedly fled inside his one-story New York Avenue home, according to arrest records.

Hutchinson was arrested on felony charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, tampering with physical evidence, and resisting an officer without violence Friday, Jan. 4.

He is also charged with violating conditions of probation for a Nov. 19 conviction of possession of cocaine and resisting arrest without violence.

He is awaiting trial at Pinellas County Jail without bond.

Hutchinson was arrested in September 2011 on the felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon, and again in March on felony charges of possession of crack cocaine and tampering with physical evidence.