Close call for Florida deputies as accused burglar crashes into nearby parked car
APOPKA, Fla. - Authorities say Timothy Hogue has a lengthy criminal record dating back at least 15 years. Polk County sheriff's deputies just added another mugshot of the man from Apopka to his list. Deputies said he and a woman were breaking into cars in Davenport early Monday morning.
Wild surveillance video shows a car flying past a deputy at 80 miles an hour in a residential Polk County neighborhood, before crashing head-on into a parked car. No one was inside the parked car at the time.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Hogue and Rebecca Kozub were breaking into cars in the neighborhood at 3 a.m. before someone called 911. Hogue, with a neck tattoo that reads "All Gas, No Brakes," couldn’t hit the brakes this time. He was arrested for resisting an officer, burglary, possession of methamphetamine, and petty theft.
The sheriff's office released a new jail booking photograph of Hogue, who appeared bloodied from the crash – just the latest mugshot in this career criminal’s life. Hogue has a long rap sheet, with 31 criminal felonies that include armed burglary, grand theft, identity theft, and drug possession. Five of those felonies were committed just this year in Orange County.
Kozub, Hogue's alleged partner in crime, is from Ocoee and also has a long criminal history with 19 felonies that include charges in Orange County for grand theft. The sheriff’s office said these two could have really hurt someone.
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"It could have been much worse," said Brian Bruchey of Polk County Sheriff's Office. "These are two individuals who have quite a lengthy criminal history. We’re hoping they get put in prison and stay there a while."
We reached out to the state attorney’s office in Orange County to ask what measures were taken to try to stop these two from committing repeat felonies in the community.
"The new administration is prioritizing the enhancement of public safety through diverse training initiatives for our staff. Assistant state attorneys have completed training sessions focusing on sentencing enhancements and have been directed to actively pursue these enhancements," a response read. "Additionally, they have received instruction on the appropriate utilization of pretrial detention motions and Arthur hearings. These initiatives aim to secure the detention of potentially dangerous offenders before their trials, reinforcing our commitment to community safety."
In Florida, an Arthur hearing is a procedure that allows for the consideration of a bond being granted in capital felony cases.
"What you see is sometimes, people will have a lot of charges. Their attorneys will make deals with the prosecutors and sometimes that’s advantageous because then you can skip trials, get them into prison, and then they get a shortened sentence and then that’s how you see them out doing what they’re doing," Bruchey added.