Traffic stops can quickly turn into criminal investigations. Rarely do they ever turn into full-blown shootouts, however. The trouble started when Rheanna Harden, in Marion County, Florida, produced false documentation during a traffic stop. The Florida woman who was in the picture on the driving license that she had handed over had only one similarity with her: the eye color.
Despite the deputy at the stop calling her out on this, Harden cited make-up and the passage of time as excuses for the discrepancies. She had also handed the officer a false name to match the ID. She was detained and put in the cop car for producing false identification to a police officer.
While the standard procedure was followed and Harden was searched, she managed to keep a firearm hidden. Deputy A. Guillard was transporting her to the Marion County Jail when Harden opened fire on him.
The deputy said, Let me see your hands. Hands out the window. Put them all the way out the window. Put both your hands out the window. Hey, I got sign on it right here. I can see your hands. What’s on the ground? Put your [ __ ] hands out the window. Hey, she’s reaching back inside.”
Despite the close-range altercation and Deputy Guillard being grazed near his eye, he survived the encounter. The car that was transporting Harden crashed into a pole, and the deputy returned fire.
Footage from a camera mounted at the back of the cop car shows her trying to cover the camera with her hand and then her cap as she tried to retrieve the gun that was hidden in her clothing. However, despite her placing the cap on the camera to obscure her movements, the material was thin enough that she was still visible.
A stitched video, pulling footage from the bodycam and the camera that was mounted in the car, was uploaded to YouTube on the channel PoliceCam Busts. The entire altercation, from the arrest to the shootout, can be seen in the video in detail. Deputy Guillard was able to take cover and return fire despite his injuries.
Harden was also injured in the altercation. Additional units would then arrive on the scene, providing first aid to Harden and Guillard. The weapon that Harden used was identified as a .357 Magnum revolver. What would have been a simple false information charge became a footnote in much more serious Attempted Second-Degree Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon charges.
The Florida case immediately shed light on how the handcuffed prisoner could have gotten access to such a big weapon, despite being thoroughly searched before her arrest, as per standard procedure. The assumption is that the weapon was skillfully hidden in baggy clothing or was likely in a place or position where it might have been difficult to detect.
Disclaimer: Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available.
