Florida deputy shoots woman reaching for cellphone during stop

PAISLEY, Fla. (AP) – Officials in Florida say a woman was reaching for her cellphone when she was shot and wounded by a sheriff’s deputy after being pulled over for running a stop sign in a stolen car.

Lake County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Fred Jones tells news outlets the deputy was conducting the traffic stop Tuesday on 51-year-old Robin Pearson in Paisley when Pearson got out of the vehicle and started walking aggressively toward the deputy.

The deputy told her to get back in the car, but she didn’t comply and reached into her pocket. Jones says that’s when the deputy, fearing for his safety, fired. Officials say it turned out she had a cellphone.

Pearson was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition. She faces several charges including grand theft auto.