JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The man shot and killed Monday night after resisting arrest during a traffic stop on 103rd Street was identified by police Tuesday as 33-year-old Leonardo Little.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Little was pulled over in a Buick sedan for having an expired tag about 7:35 p.m. just east of the intersection with of Interstate 295. Patrol Officer Cecil Grant, 28, discovered that Little was driving on a suspended license and had a criminal history. Little was asked to get out of the car and was being handcuffed when police say he took a swing and Officer Grant.
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"There was a short foot-pursuit. The officer took his Taser out -- electronic control device -- deployed the Taser and struck him. This caused suspect to fall to the ground," JSO Director Tom Hackney said. "When the officer got back to the subject, the fight continued. The wrestling went on there. (The) officer tried a second time to deploy (the) Taser (but it) did not deploy as (the) officer wished."
2014 JSO police-involved shootings
Hackney said Little eventually wrestled the Taser away from Grant. That's when the officer opened fire. Little was shot twice -- once in the mid-section and once in the leg -- and died at the scene.
Grant, who has been with JSO for one year, was placed on administrative leave pending results of the investigation.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Little had three previous arrests for domestic battery, two for resisting police and one for misdemeanor possession of marijuana. He was also a habitual traffic offender.
Hackney said a female passenger in the car told investigators that Little told her while the officer was getting his information that he was "not going to go back to jail."
The woman was released without any criminal charges.
"You just don't know what you're walking up to," Hackney said of a traffic stop. There's no such thing as a routine, it's one of the most dangerous things that law enforcement officers do. Numerous officers are killed each year from the side of the road.
This was the eighth suspect shot by police officers in Jacksonville so far this year; five of them died. Each case is investigated by the State Attorney's Office, then by a JSO Use Of Force panel.