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Two suspects in custody after Plant City car theft, gunshots start chase that ends in Tampa

 
A SWAT team responded to an apartment complex near 46th Street and Citrus Circle on Friday morning, just south of Busch Boulevard.
A SWAT team responded to an apartment complex near 46th Street and Citrus Circle on Friday morning, just south of Busch Boulevard.
Published Jan. 31, 2015

TAMPA — A six-hour standoff with three law enforcement agencies led to the capture of two suspects Friday morning in north Tampa.

Police thought the pair stole a car and were involved in a shooting.

The standoff, which included an armored SWAT van, ended around 7 a.m. when the last suspect surrendered to police after barricading himself in a home on Citrus Circle near 46th Street.

The chain of events started Thursday night in Plant City when Plant City police responded to a shooting, Tampa police spokesman Lt. Mike Stout said.

Officers connected the shooting to a white 2006 Chevrolet Malibu stolen from Lakeland. They located the car and tried to pull it over, but couldn't. Plant City investigators determined Antwan Gordon, 20, of Plant City, was driving. Also in the car was his 14-year-old girlfriend.

The investigation led officers to a home on Citrus Circle and Fourth Street in Tampa, where the stolen white Chevy was parked outside.

While undercover officers surrounded the home, which belonged to a friend of Gordon's, Gordon's cousin Herbert Stubbins jumped into the Malibu and drove away. A police helicopter tracked the car and Stubbins, 22, of Tampa, was taken into custody near 15th Street and 109th Avenue.

Stubbins told officers Gordon and the 14-year-old were still at the home on Citrus Circle. Officers returned to the home and took the girl into custody.

Gordon remained barricaded in the home. After hours of trying to persuade him to come out, Tampa police called in a tactical response team and a hostage negotiator, who persuaded Gordon to surrender.

Gordon was charged with grand theft, auto burglary, fleeing police and interference with child custody.

Contact Josh Solomon at (813) 226-3446 or jsolomon@tampabay.com. Follow @josh_solomon15