Deputy shoots, kills man while serving arrest warrant

PLANT CITY -- An undercover detective shot and killed a man outside a rooming house while serving an arrest warrant late Monday.

Undercover deputies had been waiting at Cameron Porter's home at 750 Charlie Taylor Road, near S Frontage Road just off Interstate 4, to serve the 19-year-old with an arrest warrant accusing him of dealing in stolen property, according to Hillsborough sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

When Porter arrived as a passenger inside a car about 10:40 p.m., undercover deputies followed him into the home and arrested him after finding cocaine and a weapon, authorities say.

The undercover detectives then made their way outside. An undercover detective walked up to the driver's side door and saw a man, later identified as Dwight Kitchen, 19, in the passenger seat, sheriff's officials said. When the deputy identified himself, Kitchen dived to the floorboard of the car, put it in reverse and hit the gas pedal, apparently with his hands, authorities said.

The car brushed one of the undercover deputy's legs and ran over his foot, but he was not injured, officials said. The car then backed into another undercover vehicle on the scene, and continued to push against the sheriff's vehicle.

As the deputy whose foot had been run over tried to shield himself behind a tree, Kitchen moved to the driver's seat and accelerated toward other deputies in the path of the car. The first deputy fired his gun at the car and dived out of its path. Kitchen continued forward, clipping a pole and some bushes before hitting a tree about 150 feet away, authorities said.

Fire rescue officials pronounced him dead at the scene. The deputy who shot kitchen has been placed on administrative leave, but authorities are not releasing his name, citing his undercover status.

A third man at the scene, Derrick Spangler, fled from the car before the altercation with deputies and was caught and charged with obstructing or opposing an officer without violence, officials said. 

-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer