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Don Robert Astor

Age : 39

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/22/2023

Location : Magnolia Park Boulevard, Palms at Magnolia Park

City : Tampa

County : Hillsborough

State : Florida

Agency : Tampa Police Department; Polk County Sheriff’s Office; U.S. Marshals Service Task Force

Officer(s) :Unknown

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during arrest

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/22/2023, shortly before 10:00 a.m., members of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force located 39-year-old Don Robert Astor in the passenger seat of a blue Acura RDX on Magnolia Park Boulevard in Riverview. Astor was wanted on a court-authorized arrest warrant for failure to register as a sex offender and was being sought by New York authorities in connection with a 2009 homicide. Authorities also identified Astor as a member of the Latin Kings.
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Task-force officers established surveillance and decided to conduct a tactical vehicle stop after seeing Astor enter the Acura. The task force included Tampa Police Department officers and a Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
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Astor was riding in the passenger seat while his 19-year-old stepson, Angel Torres Vallejo, drove the Acura. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, when officers attempted the vehicle stop, Vallejo backed the Acura into a Polk County Sheriff’s Office vehicle. Officers then boxed in the Acura with law-enforcement vehicles.
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A Polk County deputy approached the driver's side while two Tampa police officers approached the passenger side. Police alleged that Astor reached across the driver and fired a handgun through the vehicle toward the Polk County deputy.
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The Polk County deputy and two Tampa police officers opened fire on Astor. All three discharged their agency-issued firearms, striking Astor. Officers removed Astor from the Acura, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Vallejo survived the shooting and was taken into custody. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the fatal police shooting, with the findings designated for review by the State Attorney’s Office.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
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Three law-enforcement officers fired at Astor: two Tampa Police Department officers and one Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/hillsborough-deputies-respond-to-officer-involved-shooting-in-riverview/
https://www.fox13news.com/news/hillsborough-county-deputies-respond-to-officer-involved-shooting-at-riverview-apartments
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-hillsborough/hillsborough-deputies-responding-to-a-multi-agency-shooting-in-riverview
https://www.teamhcso.com/News/PressRelease/76d4503a-83b0-4fbd-8291-33949b896248/en-US
https://www.tampa.gov/news/2023-08/armed-suspect-shoots-officers-serving-warrant-officers-return-fire-killing-suspect