Brandon Networkers Witness Shooting Involving Deputies and Trespasser Outside Barnacles

EDITOR’S NOTE: See comment below; Evelio David Rodriguez remains in critical condition and six felony charges have been lodged, according to April 14 report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Facing no more than a misdemeanor charge on suspicion of trespassing after warning, a man was fighting for his life at Tampa General Hospital and facing instead what could be felony charges after he was shot by a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy outside Barnacles in Brandon on April 13.

Inside a back room at Barnacles, at Providence Road and Causeway Boulevard, members of the Young Professionals Brandon (YP Brandon) networking group were finishing a lunch meeting and rushed to the windows to watch the events unfolding at around 1:45 p.m.

They saw two deputies — Christina Ammons, 45, and Desirae Penrose, 27 — struggling with Evelio David Rodriguez, 20, who last known address was 2028 Brandon Crossing Circle.

Rodriguez landed on top of one of the deputies as she tried to subdue him with her Taser, sheriff’s spokesman said Detective Larry McKinnon said.

McKinnon said Rodriguez and the two deputies ended up on the floor, with one deputy pinned beneath the man and the other deputy trying to lift him off.

Rodriguez  grabbed the Taser, which prompted the deputy on top of him to fire at least one shot and possibly two, McKinnon said.

“I heard two,” said Irma Davila, a member of YP Brandon, a networking group under the auspices of the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce. “And then he was down on the ground and they got him in handcuffs and he was moving. I originally thought he was Tasered, but I definitely heard two distinct shots.

“They were completely right in doing what they did, he was resisting arrest and he was fighting it.”

Rodriguez was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where his condition was reported as critical.

Ammons and Penrose have been temporarily relieved of their duties with pay pending an investigation, which is routine, McKinnon said. Ammons is a 16-year veteran of the HCSO; Penrose has five years’ experience.

“It could have been so much worse,” McKinnon said. “We’ve seen so many tragic incidents of law enforcement officers getting killed. Fortunately, this time no deputy was injured, and the suspect was stopped before he was able to arm himself with an actual firearm.

“The worst that would have happened to (Rodriguez) was a misdemeanor trespassing charge, he would have been in jail and out of jail later tonight or tomorrow. Instead, he’s struggling for his life and facing serious felony charges, all because he wanted to fight a misdemeanor charge, which might have ended up [costing him] no more than a fine.

“Simple things can go wrong so fast."