BRANDON, Fla. — Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said two deputies who were injured Thursday morning when they were hit by a vehicle were targeted by a man "determined to kill deputy sheriffs."
HCSO said a 911 call came in at 7:44 a.m. from a woman that her adult son was acting irrationally and violently at a home in Brandon. The first two deputies on the scene pulled up to the home and parked.
At that point, Sheriff Chronister said the deputies saw the adult son sitting in the driver's seat of a car and walked over to assess the situation. Chronister said the suspect wouldn't engage in conversation with deputies and kept the windows up on his car.
According to Chronister, the adult son then put the car in reverse and drove away from the scene. But, HCSO said he returned to the scene driving at a high rate of speed.
The driver then hit two of the deputies at the scene with his car. Chronister said neither deputy had a chance to move out of the way of the accelerating car.
"There is no other way to describe this other than an ambush," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "Our deputies put their lives on the line every day to protect this community and what happened today makes me absolutely sick."
The two deputies involved were Corporal Carlos Brito, 39, and Deputy Manuel Santos, 31. Both sustained serious, critical injuries and are receiving treatment at Tampa General Hospital.
Both deputies were taken by air to Tampa General Hospital and were taken to surgery. Chronister said one of the deputies may have his leg amputated due to the injuries he sustained.
Sheriff Chronister said the suspect was then hit by stun guns fired by other deputies on the scene and taken into custody.
The HCSO identified the man as Ralph Bouzy and said he had a criminal history with five arrests on 3 felony and 14 misdemeanor charges.
According to online court records, in Feb. 2017, Bouzy was arrested for a hit-and-run in the Brandon area. During his arrest, an arrest citation says Bouzy threatened to punch a deputy before saying, "He hates cops. He wants to kill one."
Another arrest citation from Mar. 2017 said Bouzy was arrested for a violent episode at his parents’ home during which he assaulted his father before "head-butting" an officer.
"Bouzy was not taking his prescribed medication," a deputy wrote in the citation.
After those incidents, he was court-ordered to receive mental health treatment as part of his pre-trial intervention agreement.
Deputies have not said if mental health played a factor in the latest incident.
