Hernando deputies arrest Pasco man in theft, shooting incident

SPRING HILL — A Pasco County man has been arrested, accused of grabbing cash from a woman outside a Publix store and firing a gun near the head of a man who tried to catch him.

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office gave this report: Deputies responding to the Publix at County Line Road and Anderson Snow Road at 8:46 p.m. Saturday were told that the suspect, Christopher Hooten of Pasco County, approached three people outside the store.

One of them, a 24-year-old Pasco woman, was holding about $280 in her hand while she spoke briefly with Hooten. The woman said Hooten then grabbed the cash and ran through the parking lot and across a field.

The woman and two companions jumped in a car and chased Hooten. When they caught up to him, one of the men, a 50-year-old Hernando County man, jumped out and tried to grab Hooten, who pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and fired a shot beside the man's head.

Hooten fled in a 1997 black pickup truck and was later caught at a traffic stop by Hernando authorities on Bosley Road in Pasco County. The gun, money and some narcotics were recovered.

Hooten was arrested in Pasco County and booked at the Pasco jail on charges of robbery by sudden snatching and aggravated assault with a firearm. Pasco authorities also arrested him on an outstanding warrant.