A 29-year-old man is facing multiple felony charges after Hillsborough County deputies say he abandoned his car on North 48th Street in Tampa and hid in a neighbor's backyard shed rather than face a traffic stop. Vaquavien Washington was arrested at the scene once K9 handlers tracked him down, according to authorities.
The pursuit unfolded Thursday, when deputies say Washington fled from an initial traffic stop, though the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has not confirmed what originally prompted deputies to try to pull him over in the first place. As reported by FOX 13 Tampa Bay, deputies later found Washington's vehicle abandoned on North 48th Street after he had fled the earlier stop, per the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
With the car empty and the driver gone, the Sheriff's Office K9 Unit fanned out through the surrounding Tampa neighborhood to search for him. The station's report notes that handlers eventually located Washington hiding inside a backyard shed, where he came out and surrendered to deputies without further incident.
What Deputies Still Don't Know
Several details remain unresolved. Deputies have not confirmed whether anyone else was riding in the vehicle with Washington at the time of the pursuit, and officials say they don't know how long he was holed up inside the shed before K9 handlers found him.
Washington now faces felony charges including fleeing to elude at high speed and burglary of an unoccupied structure, per the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Under Florida Statute 316.1935(3)(a), fleeing a marked patrol vehicle at high speed or with wanton disregard for safety is a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in state prison, according to the Florida Senate. Notably, Florida law under that same statute bars trial judges from withholding adjudication of guilt on a fleeing conviction, meaning a guilty plea or verdict results in a mandatory formal felony record, according to the Sammis Law Firm.
The Shed Charge Carries Its Own Weight
The burglary count stems specifically from Washington allegedly entering the shed without authorization. Florida Statute 810.02(4)(a) classifies burglary of an unoccupied, non-residential structure as a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to Richard Hornsby, P.A.
This is not the first time HCSO's K9 teams have worked the North 48th Street corridor. The Sheriff's Office has previously deployed canine units to the 3400 block of the same street, including an October 2023 search in which a K9 team tracked and apprehended a repeat felon following an assault call.
A Unit Built for This Kind of Search
The Sheriff's Office K9 Unit operates within the Homeland Security Division of the Department of Operational Support, fielding 21 deputy handlers and 24 certified dogs trained in scent detection, fugitive tracking, and suspect apprehension, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Dogs must complete 480 hours of training alongside their handlers before earning an official agency badge, and Florida law makes injuring or killing a police dog a felony offense.
The unit's tracking capacity got a major boost this year: in April, the Sheriff's Office opened a new $6 million, 11,000-square-foot Canine Training Complex with 24 climate-controlled kennels and dedicated scent-tracking rooms, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay. That kind of coordinated search-and-surrender outcome has become something of a pattern for HCSO. Hoodline previously reported on a similar Ruskin chase and capture in September 2025, when a driver who fled a high-speed traffic stop hid under a residential trailer before surrendering to canine and aviation units.
Regional outlets have also reported that Washington was booked on additional charges beyond the fleeing and burglary counts, including drug possession with intent to sell and resisting arrest, according to a summary from Daily News Now. It remains unclear whether any contraband was recovered from the abandoned vehicle itself, and the extent of any damage to the shed where Washington was found has not been detailed by authorities.
