Man goes on ‘crime spree,’ shoots at agents during high-speed chase in Florida, feds say

A man went on a dayslong “criminal rampage” in Florida, then forced law enforcement to pursue him for 11 miles on a high-speed chase before he was shot, federal officials said.

Francisco Cabrera, 29, has now been sentenced to 38 years in prison on charges of robbery, carjacking, attempted murder and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said Nov. 12 in a news release.

McClatchy News reached out to Cabrera’s attorney for comment Nov. 12 but did not immediately receive a response.

Cabrera embarked on his “crime spree” Jan. 13, 2022, investigators said.

He drew fake tattoos on his face and robbed clerks of two smoke shops and one gas station over the course of two days, officials wrote in court filings.

Investigators said he took bullets out of his gun and showed them to his victims to intimidate them, telling one clerk, “This is for real.”

He ended up making away with hundreds of dollars in cash during the three store robberies before Jan. 19, 2022, when he returned to the same Plant City gas station he had already robbed to carjack a pickup truck from someone at gunpoint, authorities said.

Another driver tried to block him from leaving, but Cabrera pointed a gun at him, and the man let him go, federal officials said.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the hunt for Cabrera, and law enforcement officers found him hours after the carjacking, officials said.

They tried to pull him over, but he refused to stop, instead getting on Interstate 4 toward Lakeland and setting off an 11-mile pursuit, investigators said.

He ran red lights and drove into oncoming traffic, nearly hitting several vehicles and firing at law enforcement agents an estimated eight to 15 times during the chase, according to federal officials.

Two officers got out of their vehicles to put out stop sticks, but Cabrera fired at them from the window, authorities said.

To put a stop to the chase, an ATF special agent eventually fired at Cabrera, hitting him twice in the back, according to federal investigators.

“The same law enforcement officers that Cabrera had fired upon then quickly provided him with first aid medical assistance, saving his life,” prosecutors said in the news release.

He was indicted in January 2023 and pleaded guilty in December, records show.

This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Man goes on ‘crime spree,’ shoots at agents during high-speed chase in Florida, feds say."