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Names released in Plant City police officer-involved shooting

 
Joshua Dean Holbert, 37, was shot by a Plant City Police Officer Saturday after a suspected robbery. [FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS]
Joshua Dean Holbert, 37, was shot by a Plant City Police Officer Saturday after a suspected robbery. [FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS]
Published Nov. 7, 2016

PLANT CITY — Two days after a police officer shot a suspected thief, the department Monday released details of the encounter but still has not disclosed the wounded man's condition.

Joshua D. Holbert, 37, of Plant City was shot multiple times Saturday by Officer Gerald Baker, an 11-year veteran of the Plant City Police Department, the agency said.

About 1:45 p.m. Saturday, police received a call about a possible theft at the Depot Antiques store on Collins Street. The caller said a white male, later identified as Holbert, may have stolen items.

The officer found Holbert outside a vehicle parked in a lot on Drane Street. A woman later identified as Kimberly D. Beaty, 34, of Plant City was in the vehicle, as was a revolver on the passenger side, police said.

The police account said Holbert ignored commands from Baker, entered the car and made "furtive movements" toward the revolver.

In a news release, Sgt. Alfred Van Duyne, a spokesman, said Baker "believed there to be an imminent threat of danger to the safety of the citizens in the area, as well as his personal safety."

Holbert could face charges, the agency said. He has been arrested 29 times, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and has twice served state prison sentences for theft. His record makes no mention of convictions for violent crimes.

Baker is on routine administrative leave, pending investigations by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Hillsborough state attorney.