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Hernando Today

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Deputy Draws Gun As Getaway Car Approaches

By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: May 27, 2008

Running from the cops landed several people in a heap of trouble over the Memorial Day weekend.
The first incident escalated to a deputy drawing his gun Saturday evening when the getaway pickup began picking up speed as it headed in his direction.
Deputy Matthew Spooner had just interrupted what he described as a burglary in progress at Tate's Auto Repair on Shoal Line Boulevard in Hernando Beach.
Two men were inside the business' yard tossing scrap parts over the fence when they saw the deputy and began to run.
Spooner caught up with them as the suspects climbed into a red pickup. The driver began driving towards Spooner, so the deputy drew his gun and pointed it at the pickup's grill and front bumper, a report shows.
The driver changed direction and took off westbound on Shoal Line Boulevard, where he was quickly pulled over by arriving backup deputies.
The pickup's reported driver, Joe Martinez, told Spooner he decided to steal from the lot because he was going through hard times and needed money. He enlisted Steven Hall to help him, and they brought a fishing net with them to provide an alibi, a report shows.
Martinez reportedly added that it was not his intention to run over the deputy.
All told deputies say they recovered 51 miscellaneous metal scraps and car parts from the pickup's bed. Martinez, 39, of New Port Richey, was charged with resisting arrest without violence, reckless driving and burglary; Hall, 31, of Port Richey, was charged with burglary.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident later that night, deputies pursued a teenager who was driving on the Suncoast Parkway's bike trail.
A sergeant began the chase when the black Nissan Altima failed to stop for him as it traveled west on Bailey Hill Road.
The car was able to drive off the road to avoid backed up traffic at the Sedate Street intersection, but it couldn't avoid traffic farther down the road.
The 15-year-old driver, who is charged as a juvenile with grand theft auto, reportedly stole the car from a party on the bike trail. His passengers told deputies that the suspect drove upwards of 80 mph with the lights off on the trail before pulling off onto Bailey Hill Road.