Police: Man on drugs flees ambulance, is shot dead after brazen home invasion

A 27-year-old man being transported to the hospital from the Havana Police Department after taking the euphoric stimulant molly fled the ambulance and was later killed during a home invasion in Tallahassee.

Around 12:35 a.m. Wednesday, the Tallahassee Police Department responded to reports of a man, later identified as Jerod Clemons, trying to break into homes in the 2000 block of Thomasville Road.

Clemons was later shot and killed when he broke into a home north of Armistead Road after he was confronted by the homeowner, according to TPD Spokesman David Northway. Police attempted to give first aid, but Clemons was pronounced dead on the scene.

Clemons lived in Havana and has served time in prison for aggravated battery, burglary and trafficking in stolen property.

On Wednesday morning, the Tallahassee homeowners were sweeping up glass from a shattered front door off their porch.

The couple said they were in bed around 12:30 when they heard a ceramic planter crash through the front door.

"He was shouting and came to the threshold (of the door)," said the homeowner, a retired police officer who did not want to be named. "He said 'I'm going to kill you. 'I'm going to kill you. 'I'm going to kill you.'"

"Thank God we're still alive," the retired officer said. "It was a really rough night. It's something you don't expect."

Havana Police Chief Tracy Smith said Clemons is also a suspect in an earlier attempted home invasion on 10th Avenue in Havana late Tuesday night. HPD investigators found a stolen handgun at the home, Smith said.

After the home invasion, Clemons went to the police station, according to Smith. Clemons was acting erratically, taking his clothes off and sweating profusely. He told officers he'd taken molly, a street drug largely consisting of ecstasy.

He was transported by ambulance from Gadsden County. As the vehicle left I-10 at the Thomasville Road exit, Clemons demanded to be released from the vehicle. The driver stopped the ambulance and Clemons was able to escape out the back doors after a struggle with EMTs.

He then tried to break into a number of houses before he was shot, Northway said.

TPD investigators are interviewing witnesses and processing evidence. Anyone with information should call TPD at 891-4200 or Crime Stoppers at 574-5477.