A wanted homicide suspect pointed a gun at a Florida deputy and pulled the trigger during a traffic stop, but the weapon did not fire.
Charlotte County deputies stopped a rental car on Feb. 20 in Port Charlotte after learning two burglary suspects from Sarasota County were driving through the area. The stop unfolded about an hour southeast of Sarasota and escalated within moments.
Deputies observed a traffic violation and pulled the vehicle over. The driver identified herself as 41-year-old Amy Lee. The passenger refused to provide identification when asked.
Both occupants ignored commands to step out of the car at first. Deputies warned they would face obstruction charges if they refused. The pair then exited the vehicle.
Records revealed Lee had been arrested last year on multiple felony charges. Authorities also learned her co-defendant in those cases was 55-year-old Brian Hewson.
Deputies soon confirmed Hewson was the passenger in the rental car and that he had multiple active warrants.
Those warrants included a homicide charge out of Pennsylvania and a failure to appear in that state. He also faced charges in Lee County tied to trafficking stolen property.
Deputies moved to place Hewson under arrest. Officials said he resisted as soon as deputies attempted to take him into custody. A deputy drew his agency-issued taser and issued a warning.
Hewson then pulled a concealed firearm and aimed it at the deputy. Officials said he pointed the gun directly at the deputy and pulled the trigger.
The weapon did not discharge because there was no round in the chamber, even though the gun was loaded.
The deputy fired additional taser probes as Hewson tried to re-rack the handgun. Officials stated, “Thankfully, due to the neuromuscular incapacitation, Hewson was unable to maintain control of the gun, and it was secured by deputies.”
Deputies wrestled the weapon away and took Hewson into custody. Authorities charged him with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer for pointing the firearm at the deputy.
He also faces charges for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a controlled substance after 1.1 grams of fentanyl were found in the vehicle, resisting with violence, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He remains held at the Charlotte County Jail without bond. Sheriff Bill Prummell blasted the suspect’s actions and defended his deputy’s split-second decision.
“Let me be clear: This individual is lucky to be alive today,” Prummell said, adding that “I want to be sure it is understood that my deputies are trained to eliminate a lethal threat with deadly force. They deserve to go home to their families after their shift.”
“This despicable human tried to take one of my deputies out instead of being a man and accepting accountability for his own decisions,” he noted. “Now he will face the justice he has tried to dodge for so long … and I hope he spends the rest of his days behind bars.”
The sheriff’s office also addressed questions about why the deputy used a taser instead of a firearm.
In a Facebook post, officials wrote, “as a point of clarification: We see a few people questioning why our deputy went taser instead of lethal. The answer to that is that he already had the taser in hand before the firearm was seen.”
“Had our deputy attempted to switch from taser to firearm, he likely would have already been shot,” the department added.
“The reaction, in the moment, is to use the taser that was already drawn and aimed to incapacitate the suspect. As you can see in the video, this happened VERY quickly.”
The bodycam footage captured the encounter as it unfolded in seconds. The video shows the deputy facing an armed suspect at close range before the taser incapacitated him.
The case adds to a string of violent confrontations involving suspects accused of targeting law enforcement.
In another Florida case, Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is scheduled to be executed after being convicted of murdering a police officer during a 1991 traffic stop.
Prosecutors said Kearse wrestled Officer Danny Parrish’s service weapon away and fired 14 shots, striking the officer nine times and hitting his body armor four times.
Parrish died at a hospital after the shooting. Investigators used license plate information the officer radioed in before the struggle to identify Kearse’s vehicle and home address.
Kearse was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm. The Florida Supreme Court later ordered a new sentencing hearing after ruling jurors were not instructed on aggravating circumstances. He was resentenced to death in 1997.
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied Kearse’s appeals, which argued he was deprived of a fair penalty phase and that intellectual disability made him ineligible for execution. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal without comment.
Further north, a North Carolina man with a long criminal record was arrested after allegedly assaulting a police officer at a hospital.
Justin Wilkes, 37, was taken into custody after he allegedly struck a campus police officer in the head at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville.
Reports indicate Wilkes had been ordered to leave the property, which sparked an argument.
Authorities said Wilkes yelled at the officer and hit him in the head as officers attempted to arrest him. He now faces charges of assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct, and resisting a public officer.
Court records show Wilkes was out on pretrial release at the time of the arrest. He had been arrested one week earlier for trespassing at the same hospital. Records also show a criminal history dating back to 2005, including charges for drug offenses, assault, and robbery.
He remains in custody at the Pitt County Jail without bond.
