** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
An Apopka man faces charges of Attempted Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer after fleeing a traffic stop Saturday morning and dragging a Seminole County Deputy with his vehicle. Saturday morning, near the intersection of County Road 46A and Interstate 4, Deputy Aaron Blais pulled over 38-year-old Rocky M. Rudolph, Jr. on suspicion of having illegal window tint on his SUV. During the process of questioning the motorist, Deputy Blais smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.
Rudolph became irate as Deputy Blais was further questioning him about the suspected marijuana. Deputy Blais then drew his service weapon as Rudolph was ignoring commands to show his hands, while also trying to prevent the suspect from placing the vehicle in drive. At that time, Rudolph drove off with Deputy Blais hanging on to the window while reaching for the weapon.
Deputy Blais continued to order Rudolph to stop the vehicle and show his hands. Rudolph temporarily stopped the vehicle, but continued to ignore the commands to show his hands and to put his vehicle in park. Rudolph again repeatedly reached for the deputy’s gun while again accelerating on to the I-4 west-bound on-ramp into traffic, further endangering his life. Deputy Blais then fired his service weapon in an attempt to avoid being seriously injured or killed. After approximately 200 yards, the vehicle veered to the right, and Deputy Blais was thrown to the ground.
Blais was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later released. Rudolph abandoned the SUV and ran from the area. After an hours-long search involving multiple jurisdictions, he was located in a vehicle driven by a family member and taken into custody. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. Rudolph was transported to a local hospital where he remained as of Sunday morning. Upon release, he will be booked into the John E. Polk Correctional Facility on multiple charges including Attempted Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer.
Inside the suspect’s SUV, investigators located a handgun reported stolen out of Seminole County in 2016. “This was a very dangerous situation. Our deputy’s life was put at risk by a career criminal who had no regard for his well-being,” said Sheriff Dennis Lemma. “I applaud Deputy Blais’s professionalism and dedication to duty.” The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Poster Comment:
The video is cued up to start playing at 08:23, just as the action starts. Man, that deputy went all out.
So was there marijuana in the car or was that a false pretense for a further search?
I thought I heard the cop was dragged for a hundred yards or so. But if the cop is voluntarily hanging on to the car, is it still attempted murder?
There is attempted murder, but cops too frequently place themselves in dangerous situations in cases like this, and then kill the person to prevent them from injuring or killing the cop due to the dangerous circumstance the cop placed himself in.
I remember the case of a cop killing a woman because he jumped onto the hood of the car and then decided to kill her because she wouldn't stop.
So was there marijuana in the car or was that a false pretense for a further search?
Did you even look at this guy in the video? Of course there was ganja. And a gun in the possession of a felon. Who made the mistake of driving with overtinted windows. His windows measured 3%. Even the back windows of limos are no darker than 5%.
There is attempted murder, but cops too frequently place themselves in dangerous situations in cases like this, and then kill the person to prevent them from injuring or killing the cop due to the dangerous circumstance the cop placed himself in.
You'll never find a prosecutor bringing a case or a jury to convict a cop for being dedicated to completing an arrest. Once a uniformed cop says, "you're under arrest", the public loses all sympathy for the alleged victim for almost anything that follows.
I remember the case of a cop killing a woman because he jumped onto the hood of the car and then decided to kill her because she wouldn't stop.
I think I recall that. Wasn't the cop named T. J. Hooker?
So was there marijuana in the car or was that a false pretense for a further search?
Did you even look at this guy in the video? Of course there was ganja. And a gun in the possession of a felon. Who made the mistake of driving with overtinted windows. His windows measured 3%. Even the back windows of limos are no darker than 5%.
I take that as a concession there was no marijuana.
Tinted windows, fine. But I'm pretty sure that is not an arrestable offense.
A guy I'd like to hang out with, absolutely not.
He had a gun with a history? Apparently, but that was not known to the cop at the time.
Was this guy in fear for his life at at least one point in the video, yes, it sure seems it to me. In my book, that is not an excuse for lethal action only cops are allowed to employ.
There is attempted murder, but cops too frequently place themselves in dangerous situations in cases like this, and then kill the person to prevent them from injuring or killing the cop due to the dangerous circumstance the cop placed himself in.
You'll never find a prosecutor bringing a case or a jury to convict a cop for being dedicated to completing an arrest. Once a uniformed cop says, "you're under arrest", the public loses all sympathy for the alleged victim for almost anything that follows.
That's pretty much how it works, when when/if a cop escalates a situation to the point where innocent people are gunned down. Like that simon-says killing.
I think I recall that. Wasn't the cop named T. J. Hooker?
Nice try. But no, this was a real killing in real life.
I take that as a concession there was no marijuana.
That's unknown. If you watch the video, you'll see that he crashed his big SUV only about 100 yards after he shook off the cop into the left ditch. That was when he fled on foot, possibly taking his stash with him.
At any rate, he'll be tried for attempted murder, resisting arrest, etc. They can always bring more charges for other stuff later if they want. Chances are that he'll take the plea bargain offered for 15-20 years because he is obviously a career criminal.
Was this guy in fear for his life at at least one point in the video, yes, it sure seems it to me. In my book, that is not an excuse for lethal action only cops are allowed to employ.
You're in a tiny minority in seeing it that way. The public overwhelmingly supports a cop making an arrest once he yells, "you're under arrest" and pulls his gun. Even more so if the perp is trying to grab the officer's gun. The public does not want to see anyone resisting the police at that juncture. They'll side with the cop, every single time.
My point is that the "I feared for my life" narrative is a justification for use of lethal force ONLY allowed by police against the citizenry. To my knowledge, it has NEVER been allowed as a defense by a citizen against the police with the exception of extremely rare cases where the citizen did not know that the person they used lethal force against was a police officer.
Specifically, there was at least one case of a homeowner who opened fire on police doing a no-knock raid who was not charged, but only because it was determined he had no reasonable basis for knowing they were cops breaking into his home.
But if a citizen is in fear for his life due to a cop pointing a weapon at him and acting erradically, he's in a situation where if he acts on that fear and uses lethal force against the cop, he's screwed. And if doesn't, he may be screwed as well.
It is a double standard. There is a legal presumption that citizens much always assume that a cop will never use lethal force unjustly, and the raw fact is that cops have killed innocent people that posed no threat to them whatsoever, and in cases where they had no reasonable basis to believe they were in danger of getting shot by police. And if people can be shot by police when they least expect it, that certainly would create precedent for an "I feared for my life" defense by a citizen against the police.
