A Pasco County detention deputy fatally shot a suspect after a bizarre sequence of events that included a 911 hangup, a chase with a tractor trailer cab truck, a traffic crash and a violent confrontation.
- Pasco detention deputy shoots, kills suspect along northern Pasco road early Friday
- Altercation came after suspect rammed two deputies' personal vehicles with tractor-trailer cab truck
- Ronald Michael Robbibaro shot and killed by deputy
A stretch of U.S. Highway 41 remains closed near Bowman Road in Pasco County.
According to Sheriff Chris Nocco, the situation ended with a detention deputy shooting and killing 30-year-old Ronald Michael Robbibaro.
Officials said the events began with a 911 call hang up around 4 a.m. near Masaryktown.
Authorities then spoke with a woman that said a man was following her. That led deputies to an area near U.S. 41 and County Line Road near the Pasco-Hernando county border.
After investigating, officials left that scene but came across a Coca-Cola truck cab being driven erractically on U.S. 41.
Officials said Robbibaro, who was involved in the earlier event that sparked the woman's 911 call, had stolen an unattended truck from a Coca-Cola bottling plant and drove off.
After backing onto the hood of an off-duty Pasco sergeant's Ford Mustang and pulling off, Robbibaro collided with an off-duty Pasco Sheriff's Office detention deputy's pickup truck.
The suspect and the detention deputy were then involved in a violent struggle, Nocco said. Eventually, the detention deputy - still in full uniform - produced his weapon and shot Robbibaro twice.
Robbibaro died at the scene. The deputy was taken to a hospital for examination. Officials did not say if he was injured.
Robbibaro had prior arrests on charges of DUI, disorderly intoxication and domestic battery with violence.
"This is a horrible situation any time we are involved in these type of incidents," Nocco said. "But I want to thank God our deputies are okay."