Tampa man arrested after shots fired in Ybor

A fight behind a nightclub leads to the ramming of a cruiser and a showdown with officers.

By CASEY CORA and REBECCA CATALANELLO, Times Staff Writer
Published August 18, 2007

Christopher Ingraham-Richardson, 24, right, is escorted out of police headquarters in downtown Tampa on Friday.
	[Kathleen Flynn | Times]

TAMPA - Gunfire rang out in Ybor City early Friday, and Tampa police believe some of the bullets were intended for them.

Christopher Ingraham-Richardson, 24, of Tampa was arrested in connection with the incident. Police said he rammed a marked police cruiser while trying to flee.

About 3:13 a.m., while they were monitoring crowds spilling out of area bars, officers heard an argument break out behind the Empire nightclub.

One man retrieved a sawed-off shotgun from a four-door, brown 1990 Honda sedan and began waving it around "recklessly," said Assistant Chief Jane Castor. The man put the shotgun back into the car, fetched an SKS assault rifle from the car and fired a single shot.

When officers arrived to investigate, they saw muzzle flashes and heard several more shots - gunfire that they believe had been aimed at them.

The officers opted not to return fire because of the gathered crowds. That's when they spotted the car speeding away.

Police units, including a helicopter, saturated the area and tracked the car several blocks away, police said, boxing it in around N 23rd Street and Second Avenue. Police said the driver tried to break out by ramming a marked cruiser, but that failed.

The driver got out of the car without a weapon, and he beat on his chest, repeating, "You're going to have to kill me!" Castor said.

Guns drawn, the officers approached him, and he "resisted violently," she said. Officers used a Taser on him several times, she said.

Police recovered both weapons. No injuries were reported.

Police took two men into custody, but only Ingraham-Richardson had been charged Friday evening. He was being held in lieu of $15,500 bail, and the charges include aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, battery on a law enforcement officer and obstructing or opposing an officer.

Ingraham-Richardson of 14521 Prism Circle, Apt. 105B, had been charged Thursday with driving with a suspended license.

Until Friday, that had been his only arrest, according to state records.

Police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said the incident is still being investigated.

[Last modified August 17, 2007, 23:40:51]