A suspect and two deputies were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries stemming from a burglary call in Pompano Beach Thursday morning, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.
Later on Thursday the agency identified Joshua Boyce, 34, of Boca Raton as the burglary suspect who was confronted by deputies Mike Gardner and George Wesolowski outside the home at 2201 Bay Drive.
Boyce, Gardner and another deputy, Jeff Hurt, were ultimately taken to Broward Health North.
They tried to detain Boyce, but he resisted and was able to get to his black Honda Civic, the BSO said. He struck Gardner as he fled the scene while the deputies fired at him, according to the BSO. Spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright initially said that no one was injured as a result of the gunfire, but the BSO later said that the suspect was shot in the leg.
Mia Nistico, who lives at the home that Boyce allegedly broke into, said she saw him and called police.
"He tries to walk past the cop car like he's just taking a walk," she said. "I turned around and said, he doesn't belong here. That's the guy."
She was shocked when shots were fired.
"I'm standing right there, the officer's right there. He pulls out his gun and starts shooting off rounds right in front of me, and I'm just like, 'Oh my gosh,'" Nistico said.
The suspect began driving north and deputies in Deerfield Beach started blocking traffic, Coleman-Wright said.
At one point, the suspect struck another deputy's car at Hillsboro Boulevard and A1A in Deerfield Beach, Coleman-Wright said. He was later identified as Hurt.
The suspect continued to try to flee but deputies were able to talk him out of the vehicle (pictured below), Coleman-Wright said.
Dramatic video shot by a witness showed the shirtless suspect surrender to authorities after crashing his car.
Gardner, Hurt and Boyce were transported to Broward Health North, the BSO said.
"All of the injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening and that's very fortunate," Coleman-Wright said.
A witness said the suspect had a gun but authorities haven't confirmed whether a weapon was recovered at the scene.
"I saw the gun and they were pointing, there was like 35 cops or something," witness Sebastian Jordan said. "Then that's basically it, he gave up, he threw a gun into the grass."
Police had A1A at Hillsboro Boulevard closed off in both directions as they investigated the incident.
Boyce will be charged with two counts of attempted murder on a law enforcement officer, one count of burglary of an occupied dwelling, one count of resisting arrest with violence and one count of aggravated fleeing to elude police, the BSO said. It wasn't immediately known whether he has an attorney.
He also has an open warrant in Palm Beach County for burglary, the BSO said.
Boyce was released from prison in May after serving nearly seven years for burglary and grand theft charges, according to Florida Department of Corrections records.
The incident happened just a day after a woman was killed by a fleeing suspect who crashed into her car at a west Broward intersection as authorities pursued him.
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Coleman-Wright said deputies took precaution to block off roads during Thursday's incident.
"Deputies in Deerfield Beach started blocking off roads, blocking off traffic, making sure to protect any innocent civilians especially in light of what occurred yesterday, you can imagine that our deputies were very sensitive to what was going on," she said.
