SAFETY HARBOR — Four Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a man who had been on what authorities described as a 24-hour “crime spree” about 3:30 p.m. June 30.
Clearwater police Deputy Chief Michael Walek provided preliminary details on the shooting at a press conference about 6 p.m. near the scene of the shooting on Phillippe Parkway in Safety Harbor.
According to Walek, events started June 29 when the deceased, Robert Hubbard, 43, of Tampa reportedly stole a golf cart and a 2012 Toyota Corolla vehicle at gunpoint in Hillsborough County. Walek said the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office had released an alert saying that Hubbard was armed and dangerous and had wishes to have a shootout with law enforcement.
Later that evening, the stolen vehicle was involved in an attempted robbery in the Trinity area in Pasco County, Walek said. Details in a press release stated that Hubbard had been seen waving a gun around the parking lot of a Walmart and had tried to rob a woman at gunpoint outside an Outback Steakhouse.
The next afternoon, June 30, Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies learned the vehicle had been spotted in Clearwater. Deputies managed to locate the car, but every time they tried to stop it, Hubbard would flee the scene driving recklessly, Walek said. Deputies tried to stop Hubbard multiple times, but were unsuccessful.
Hubbard eventually made his way to the Safety Harbor area where deputies used “stop sticks” to try to puncture the tires, but were only able to partially disable the car, Walek said.
Finally, a deputy’s vehicle bumped the suspect’s vehicle, sending it off the road. Hubbard then got out of the car and pointed a handgun directly at four deputies who shot and killed him, authorities said.
Walek said Hubbard had an extensive criminal history. He also said the community had never been in any real danger except from Hubbard’s reckless driving.
The deputies involved in the shooting have been identified as Robert Smith, 27, hire date Nov. 28, 2016; Daniel Abbott, 37, hire date, Dec. 17, 2018; Anthony Hellstern, 33, hire date, Jan. 06, 2013; Damarcus Flournoy, age 30, hire date, April 24, 2017.
The four have been placed on paid administrative leave while the matter is under investigation by the Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force.
The task force was created in 2020 to ensure the investigations of law enforcement use of deadly force are thorough, complete, and objective. The purpose of this task force is to make sure that officer-involved shootings in Pinellas County are investigated by an independent agency and not by the agency involved in the use of deadly force.
In this case, the Clearwater Police Department is the lead investigator and is joined by the St. Petersburg Police Department and Pinellas Park Police Department.
Suzette Porter is TBN’s Pinellas County editor. She can be reached at sporter@tbnweekly.com.
