A shoplifting suspect accused of dragging a deputy with his car while fleeing late Wednesday is being held without bail at the Seminole County Jail. Robert Pinos, 23, is facing numerous charges, including escape, resisting arrest with violence and aggravated battery on a law-enforcement officer.
Deputies began searching for Pinos at 7:30 p.m. after a security officer at the Publix on Clayton Crossing Way accused him of stealing two lipsticks and a pair of sunglasses.
When confronted by Publix employees, Pinos emptied his pockets of the stolen items but ran from the store when they began asking him for his personal information, a report said. Pinos dropped his wallet as he ran from the store, and it was retrieved by employees.
Deputies investigating the shoplifting were then dispatched to his home and met with his brother, who said Pinos was on his way home.
Another deputy who was waiting in the neighborhood pulled over Pinos and tried to arrest him, but he got away, records show.
Dashboard-camera video released by the Sheriff's Office shows the deputy interacting with Pinos during the traffic stop. When the deputy turned Pinos around to handcuff him, Pinos spun around and got back into his car, dragging the deputy with him.
The deputy was dragged by the car for about 20 feet before he rolled out the moving vehicle. The deputy was not seriously injured.
Pinos was later found hiding in the attic of his home in the 4300 block of Steed Terrace in Winter Park. As he was about to surrender, Pinos fell through the ceiling and into a pile of items in the garage, a report states.
Three officers wrestled Pinos to get his arms behind his back in the garage. Pinos was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation and tried for a final time to escape officers, according to the affidavit.
He was booked into the jail without further incident.
In 2008, Pinos was arrested in connection to the shooting death of 22-year-old Gary Steven Hopkins II in Casselberry. Witnesses told police the two men were fighting when Pinos allegedly pulled out a shotgun and fired at the victim, killing him.
The state abandoned the case later that year.
Copyright 2013 - Orlando Sentinel
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
