Masaryktown man breaks deputy’s hand during manhunt
MASARYKTOWN –
As deputies from two counties searched for Michael Garrett’s pickup truck on Friday and the woman inside it, a witness told deputies Garrett had been smoking “spice” and drinking alcohol all day and that he was very dangerous and they should be careful.
Sitting outside La Siesta Motel at 371 Broad Street in a green F150 pickup with his girlfriend, five witnesses say Garrett, 25, struck her several times in the face. They heard her screaming for help before he grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her face into the dashboard several times then choked her.
The woman got out of the truck and Garrett yelled at her to get back inside, an arrest report shows, and witnesses say the woman was scared and likely had serious injuries. She got back in the truck, anyway. Garrett took with her down Benes Roush Road.
Police checked a database and found a recent address for Garrett at 17145 Benes Roush Road, but when they went there neither Garrett nor the woman could be found. A look at Garrett’s Facebook page turned up his girlfriend’s last name, which police used for another database search. Witnesses confirmed the photo of the woman that appeared was Garrett’s girlfriend, and believing she was possibly being held against her will with potentially serious injuries, she was entered into another database as being missing/endangered.
Deputies contacted T-mobile to possibly “ping” the phone belonging to Garrett’s girlfriend, to see where she might be located. T-mobile told deputies her phone was “mapping” in an 1800 meter radius of 18813 U.S. 41 in Pasco County.
Several Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies responded with Hernando deputies to the address, and tracked with the Pasco County K9 Unit in the wood line, but was unable to find Garrett or his girlfriend. A Pasco deputy then informed Hernando deputies that Garrett’s truck was spotted in front of the Maryann Apartments at 212 Broad St. When the deputies got there, Garrett was in the driver’s seat and his girlfriend in the passenger seat.
Police ordered Garrett out of the truck and to get on the ground. He stepped out of the truck and tried to walk away. Police again ordered him on the ground and he refused. A deputy told him he was under arrest and to place his hands behind his back, and when he grabbed Garrett’s right arm he struck two deputies in the upper chest.
“I then attempted to use an arm bar take down to place Michael face first on the ground; however, he was stronger than I was and refused to get on the ground,” Deputy Steven George wrote. “I attempted to get his left arm out from underneath his body. He was able to roll me on my back. I felt extreme pain in my left hand. At this point, I was unable to use my left hand.”
Garrett was tasered in “drive-stun” mode several times in the back, which is when the Taser is held against a person to cause pain without firing its wired-prongs. He was then tasered with the prongs, which hooked into his chest. He was tasered via “drive-stun” again several times in the left leg, but that didn’t subdue him.
Several minutes later, and with the efforts of several Hernando and Pasco deputies, Garrett was placed into handcuffs. Garrett kept kicking his feet, so a Pasco deputy put him in leg shackles.
Garrett’s girlfriend refused medical treatment and refused to cooperate with the sheriff’s office’s investigation, according to the report.
“I still had extreme pain in my left hand and was unable to move it,” Deputy George wrote. “I then responded to Brooksville Regional Hospital where I was diagnosed with a broken hand that would require further medical treatment at a later time.”
Garrett was also taken to Brooksville Regional Hospital where he was medically cleared and transported to the Hernando County Detention Center. Garrett was charged with battery, two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest with violence. Garrett’s total bond is $15,500.
