Lehigh Acres chase ends after suspect crashes into ditch, barricades in car: LCSO

LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) — A man connected to multiple shootings was arrested following an officer-involved shooting after a pursuit through Lehigh Acres, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded to a residence on Willowbrook Drive in Lehigh Acres just after midnight Thursday for a domestic disturbance involving an armed subject. They learned that 32-year-old Joe Christopher Simmons Jr. allegedly fired a handgun from inside the occupied residence while several family members were present.

According to witnesses, Simmons Jr. had been behaving erratically and claimed he was shooting at "ghosts" inside the home. When family members tried to calm him down, he became enraged and allegedly struck a family member in the jaw and headbutted another before fleeing the scene in a gray Jeep Cherokee.

Deputies attempted to stop Simmons' vehicle but he failed to stop, resulting in a pursuit. During the pursuit, shots were fired at deputies near the 100 block of Greenbriar Boulevard and the 1800 block of Richmond Avenue North.

At both of these scenes, two deputies returned fire. The pursuit ended in the backyard of a residence on Wilby Lane, where deputies said Simmons Jr. crashed his vehicle into a ditch, flipping the vehicle on its hood.

Simmons Jr. then barricaded himself within the vehicle for nearly two and a half hours before deputies took him into custody with the assistance of ATSU and Aviation. There were no injuries to the suspect, victims or law enforcement officers involved.

Throughout the investigation, detectives said that Simmons Jr. was involved in multiple other shootings Wednesday night leading up to this incident that the Violent Crimes Unit has been investigating.

Simmons Jr. faces one count of attempted homicide on a law enforcement officer, one count of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling, one count of shooting into an occupied conveyance related to an incident earlier this week and two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery.

"This suspect put his own family, responding deputies and our community in danger with his reckless and violent actions numerous times," said Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

"Thanks to the swift response of our deputies, Aviation, ATSU, VCU and MCU detectives, he's behind bars where he belongs and will now face the consequences of his actions," Marceno said.

The two deputies involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is the standard procedure for officer-involved shootings.