A 36-year-old Lakeland man wanted on multiple outstanding warrants tried to run from deputies across a busy Home Depot parking lot, and it cost him a set of K9 bite wounds and a trip to jail. Christopher Chapman refused to surrender when confronted by law enforcement, deputies say, setting off a foot chase that ended with a police dog bringing him down on the asphalt.
Polk County deputies located Chapman off US Highway 98 North near Barrett Avenue, close to a Home Depot along Barrett Avenue, according to Tampa Free Press. Chapman was wanted on an active Hillsborough County warrant that included charges of leaving the scene of a crash, resisting arrest, driving on a suspended license, and failing to register as a career offender, per the outlet's report.
Warned, Then Chased Down
Deputies warned Chapman that they would release a police dog if he did not comply, but he fled anyway, running across the Home Depot parking lot in the busy retail corridor. The Tampa Free Press report notes that deputies then released K9 Reno, who caught up to Chapman and bit him, bringing him down on the pavement before deputies moved in to handcuff him.
Chapman was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his bite wounds before being booked into the Polk County Jail, the same report states. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced the arrest during a morning briefing on Monday, framing the outcome as entirely avoidable.
“He went to jail tired and bitten by our canine when all he had to do was give up peacefully,” Judd said, according to the article. The sheriff added a blunter line for anyone tempted to run from deputies in the future: “If you're going to be stupid, you got to be tough.”
Underlying Warrant Charges Carry Real Weight
The failure-to-register charge was among the charges on Chapman's Hillsborough County warrant.
The resisting-arrest charge stems from Florida Statute § 843.02, which classifies fleeing or resisting an officer without violence as a first-degree misdemeanor carrying up to a year in county jail and a $1,000 fine, per Stroleny Law. His driving-on-a-suspended-license charge falls under Florida Statute § 322.34; a third-degree felony is not automatic and depends on specified statutory circumstances, according to the Mayberry Law Firm. Meanwhile, leaving the scene of a crash is treated differently depending on the damage involved: Florida Statute § 316.061 makes property-damage hit-and-runs a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail, while fleeing a crash involving personal injury rises to a third-degree felony under Section 316.027, notes the Law Offices of Kate Mesic.
A Familiar Pattern for Polk County K9 Teams
In a case reported by FOX 13 News, deputies deployed a K9 to catch an uncooperative suspect who fled into nearby woods after ignoring repeated warnings to surrender.
The risks of these deployments cut both ways. In a shooting involving a suspect in a tent, a Polk County K9 named Ace suffered a leg injury and received specialized treatment.
