PLANT CITY, Fla. — A wanted man sent the woman and two child passengers in his vehicle to the hospital on Wednesday after purposely running a stop sign, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies say 27-year-old Troy Tatum had an adult female, a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old in his vehicle when he ran the stop sign at the intersection of County Road 60 and Smith Ryals Road.
Deputies say it happened around 12 p.m. They were in the area responding to calls of a possible shooting, which turned out to be unfounded, when a deputy saw a silver Ford Fusion parked in the middle of Smith Ryals Road.
When the deputy approached the vehicle, the sheriff's office says the driver, Tatum, accelerated and drove towards the deputy's lane of travel. The sheriff's office says Tatum was attempting to hit the deputy head on.
The deputy moved out of the way and Tatum continued going southbound, according to the sheriff's office. The deputy followed after turning on his emergency lights, the sheriff's office says.
Deputies say Tatum ran the stop sign at the intersection and traveled across all four lanes of traffic, hitting another vehicle.
The female passenger in Tatum's vehicle was medevaced to a local hospital and the two children were taken by ground. They all suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Deputies say Tatum was uninjured, along with the driver of the other vehicle.
Hillsborough deputies discovered Tatum had an outstanding warrant out of Polk County for resisting an officer without violence and possession of cannabis.
Tatum now faces charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a motor vehicle and fleeing to elude.
