JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An attempted carjacker armed with a gun picked the wrong target Monday night, when he tried to rob the armed, off-duty, deputy police chief of the University of North Florida.
UNF Deputy Chief Bill Strudel was trying to get ice at the Twice the Ice vending machine in a strip mall in Northwest Jacksonville near Lem Turner and Capper Road when the attempted carjacking happened.
Strudel was in plain clothes and off-duty, and without a patrol car when 15-year-old Erick Jones walked up to him and hit him in the back of the head with a gun, drawing blood.
Strudel's wife says her daughter came to the scene and said she had never seen so much blood in her life.
"We've been married for 26 years and he's never been shot. We've gone through a lot of things. It scared me of course. I was worried," Strudel's wife said.
Police said after Strudel was hit with the gun he grabbed his own gun and shot the young man in the butt. Strudel then held the young man at gunpoint until Jacksonville Sheriff's Officers arrived.
Officers spoke to several witnesses at the scene, one of whom said that the suspect was actually carrying a BB gun.
Frank Mackesy, the chief of police at UNF said he took Strudel to the hospital where he had to get stitches. He's out of the hospital now and is expected to return to UNF on light duty.
Strudel has been with UNF for 10 years and before that was a firearms instructor, ran the gun range for JSO and retired from JSO as a sergeant after 25 years of service.
News4Jax Crime and Safety Analyst Gil Smith does have some advice for staying safe in situations like this
"Treat these places like an ATM. People know you're approaching with money on you. Drive around the area and see if anyone is hiding around the machine. Also see if anyone in the area appears to be suspicious," Smith said.
Police say they're not looking for anyone else after this incident and that Jones is being charged with attempted carjacking with a firearm.