Officer-involved Shooting Investigation
Tenth Judicial Circuit Officer Involved Deadly Incident Task Force investigating officer-involved shooting in Lakeland
LAKELAND, FL (August 19, 2023) – The Tenth Judicial Circuit Officer Involved Deadly Incident Task Force is investigating an officer-involved shooting which occurred in the 4200 block of US Highway 98 North, at the Village Plaza. The incident began at approximately 12:41 p.m. when Lakeland Police officers responded to calls of a male in a white Lincoln sedan who appeared to be incapacitated behind the wheel of his vehicle. The vehicle was stopped at a stop sign in the 1700 block of Lakehurst Street and the vehicle was still running. LPD officers attempted to make contact with the suspect, but he awoke, struck a nearby citizen’s vehicle as he fled. Officers did not pursue the suspect at that time. LPD officers spotted the suspect a short time later at a gas station in the 3400 block of US Highway 98 North and once again attempted to stop him. The suspect fled a second time. Officers did not engage in a pursuit.
At 1:18 p.m. the suspect’s vehicle was located parked at the Village Plaza parking lot. As officers approached the vehicle the suspect climbed from the back seat of his vehicle into the front seat. Once behind the wheel the suspect repeatedly rammed two officers’ vehicles in an attempt to flee when one officer fired several times at the suspect. The suspect was able to flee again and officers pursued him onto US Highway 98 North, then to Wedgewood Estates Boulevard where he crashed near Douglas M. Cook Park.
One officer sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from Lakeland Regional Health (LRH).
The suspect was identified as John Alfred Hofman (age 57) of Webster, Florida. He was taken into custody and transported to LRH for evaluation, but sustained no obvious injuries and was transported to the Polk County Jail to be processed.
In addition to charges Hofman will face for this incident, he had felony arrest warrants from Sumter County and Volusia County to include Fleeing to Elude and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Hofman’s history includes over 30 criminal charges and 10 felony convictions. For details on his warrants, please contact the respective agencies mentioned above.