A Lake City woman ran into the police department's lobby seeking help during a physical altercation with her boyfriend on Monday evening, only for the man to follow her inside, attack her, and then flee in her car with her two children still inside, according to police. Officers used the city's Flock license plate reader network and cellular location data to track the stolen vehicle and recover both children unharmed within a short time of the initial 911-style walk-in call.
The incident began shortly after 6:15 p.m. on August 10, when the woman went to Lake City police headquarters during a physical altercation with her boyfriend, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay. Surveillance cameras captured Branch Stamper chasing the woman into the lobby, then knocking her to the floor, grabbing her by the neck, pulling her backward, and taking her phone, police said. Stamper then allegedly stole her vehicle, a black Kia Seltos, with her two children still inside, and drove off.
Cameras and Cell Data Track the Stolen Kia
Lake City police officers moved quickly to locate the vehicle, relying on the department's Flock automated license plate reader network combined with cellular location data to pinpoint its path, per the same account. Officers found Stamper, the stolen Kia, the mother's property, and both children near NE Lake Drive, according to WJXT, which reported the exact recovery location. Both children, who are not related to Stamper, were safely reunited with their mother.
As of late 2025, the Lake City Police Department operated 17 Flock cameras across the city, according to the Atlas of Surveillance. That network is the same technology at the center of a local political fight days before the incident, when the Lake City Council weighed Resolution No. 2026-094, a measure that would put a nonbinding referendum on the November 3 ballot asking voters whether the city should keep funding and installing the cameras, as Hoodline reported earlier this month.
Lethality Assessment Flagged Immediate Danger
Officers completed a domestic violence packet and a lethality assessment at the scene, a standardized risk evaluation used to flag intimate-partner violence cases where a victim faces immediate danger of being killed. The assessment determined the victim faced a potentially lethal situation, police said. Florida law under Statute § 741.29 mandates that responding officers perform this type of lethality screening during intimate-partner domestic violence investigations, according to the Florida Senate.
The victim had visible injuries but declined medical treatment, per the report from FOX 13 Tampa Bay. Officers provided her with resources on protective injunctions, and the Florida Department of Children and Families has launched an investigation into the incident.
Chief Urges Victims to Seek Help Early
Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler said the incident could quickly escalate and place multiple lives at risk. He encouraged people experiencing domestic violence to seek help before a situation becomes more dangerous, echoing the department's broader message following the case.
Stamper was booked into the Columbia County Detention Facility, a 340-bed jail overseen by Jail Administrator Captain Robert C. Dees following a 2022 housing expansion, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. He faces two counts of kidnapping, domestic battery by strangulation, domestic battery, grand theft of a motor vehicle, driving with a suspended or revoked license with knowledge, resisting an officer without violence, and tampering in a misdemeanor proceeding.
Steep Penalties Under Florida Law
Kidnapping is classified as a first-degree felony in Florida, punishable by up to life in prison and a $10,000 fine, and ranked as a Level 9 offense under the state's Criminal Punishment Code, according to Online Sunshine, the state's official statutes portal. Domestic battery by strangulation is a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine upon conviction under Florida Statute § 784.041(2)(a).
The case lands amid a broader regional reckoning over the license plate reader technology that helped crack it. Automated license plate readers across Central Florida have faced mounting friction in recent weeks, including vandalism reported in Volusia and Lake counties and a citywide camera shutdown ordered in Palm Bay this month over municipal permitting concerns, according to WKMG. Images and data captured by these systems are classified as confidential public-records exemptions under Florida Statute § 316.0777, subject to strict statutory retention limits.
