St. Pete Cop Shot in Hand with Own Gun During Arrest

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — An undercover officer with the St. Petersburg Police Department was seriously injured during a Friday night stop of an accused reckless driver.

According to the agency, uniformed officers initially attempted to stop a 2015 Toyota Corolla that was seen driving recklessly on 28th Street near 11th Avenue South around 11 p.m. on Friday.

“The driver drove off at a high rate of speed,” the agency wrote in an email to media.

The uniformed officers did not pursue the Toyota, but undercover officers in the Violent Crimes Task Force caught up with the vehicle a short time later. They threw stop sticks into the road that were able to flatten the tires on the Toyota as it traveled along Freemont Terrace South, near 29th Street, the email said.

The Toyota continued on for a bit before its driver, a 16-year-old boy, bailed out and ran, leaving the car rolling, the email said.

“An undercover officer jumped into the rolling car to try to stop it just as it hit the back of an unoccupied Pinellas Sheriff's vehicle,” the email said. “Upon impact, the officer's gun accidently discharged and the bullet struck his hand.”

The officer was taken to Bayfront Health with serious, but not life-threatening injuries, the police department said. His name is not being released because of his undercover status.

The teen, who is not being identified, was charged with fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest without violence and operating a vehicle without a valid driver’s license.

No further information is available at this time.

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