Florida man smoking meth shot, killed after opening firing on SWAT team in Polk County: sheriff

POLK COUNTY, Fla. - A suspect is dead after he fired shots at a Polk County SWAT team, who returned fire, killing him Thursday night, authorities said.

Sheriff Grady Judd identified the suspect killed as 37-year-old Raymond Martinez, a man who had a lengthy criminal history including 16 previous felony arrests.

In the process of shooting at deputies, Martinez struck Polk County SWAT team Deputy Samuel Yates in the shoulder, Judd said. He was taken to the hospital and is in excellent condition, according to Judd. He needs surgery to remove some shattered glass in his face. 

The shooting broke out after hours of negotiations with Martinez.

Authorities said the incident began shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday in Highlands County when deputies tried to pull over an orange Nissan on Highway 627 and 17A that had run a stop sign because they believed the driver was under the influence. 

When the vehicle didn’t stop, deputies began chasing it. Since they were only pursuing the vehicle for traffic charges, the deputies said they were about to stop the chase as the suspect headed into Polk County when they received a 911 call from a woman who said she was being held hostage in the car, FOX 13 News reported. 

Highland County deputies said they continued the chase for 11 miles until they got to 17 A, or Scenic Highway, and T.S. Wilson Road. That’s when, according to Sheriff Judd the car got stuck in a ‘high rise’ and lost traction forcing the pursuit to come to an end. 

Judd said they learned the woman being held hostage was the driver when the pursuit began and Martinez was in the passenger seat. She was not allowed to stop and was forced to flee from law enforcement, Judd said.

Suspect was smoking meth

Polk County deputies arrived at the scene and were led to believe there were three people in the vehicle – Martinez, the woman and a baby. 

They tried to get Martinez to peacefully surrender for hours. During that time, Martinez was reportedly smoking meth and not complying with authorities. He then asked for water. 

"We said, no problem, let the baby and the lady out and we'll give you water," Judd said, but the suspect refused. 

They asked him what they could trade him in exchange for water and Martinez reportedly threw out a magazine full of ammunition and a handgun. 

"He's incredibly erratic. He at one time threatened suicide. He said he could not let the baby go and he said he certainly couldn't let the woman go because if he did that, then we would shoot him. We assured him that that was not the case, and that we wanted to peacefully take him into custody," Judd said. 

Martinez accused the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office of being the Mexican cartel and said they were after him, according to Judd. 

Crisis negotiators arrived and convinced him to let the woman out of the vehicle long enough to take a bottle of water back to him. 

She was able to get out the car and deputies took her to safety. She was not injured. 

‘There was no baby in the car’

After speaking with the woman, deputies learned "there was no baby in the car, that this was just part of his rouse to keep us at bay," Judd said. 

Negotiations continued with Martinez until he jumped from the passenger seat to the driver's seat of the vehicle and tried to drive off. The car’s wheels were spinning and throwing rocks everywhere but it didn't budge because it was stuck in the high center. 

It was then that SWAT team members introduced a chemical agent to the car, and Martinez started firing shots at them, and they returned fire.

Martinez died after being shot multiple times.

"We gave him exactly what he asked for," Judd told reporters. "He said he wanted to go to heaven, we made the arrangements for him."

Judd said the hostage and Martinez were known to each other but did not give details on their relationship. 

The shooting is under investigation.