STACEY HENSON

SHENSON@NEWS-PRESS.COM

UPDATE: While the Lee County Sheriff's Office remains quiet about the shooting of a suspect, witnesses have reported an armed citizen shot and killed the man.

Deputy First Class Dean Bardes, a 12-year-veteran, was working a crash at Mile Marker 126 on Interstate 75 South when the suspect passed him in excess of 100 mph, prompting Bardes to pursue him at high speeds, witnesses said.

Bardes stopped the suspect on the Corkscrew Road off ramp. The suspect attacked Bardes, and was wrestling him on the ground outside his car.

WINK News reported that the passerby told the suspect he’d shoot him if he didn’t stop beating the deputy..

After noncompliance from the suspect, the passerby shot the suspect three times, sources said. The suspect died. Bardes was treated and released at a local hospital

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Nicole Ambrosi of Bonita Springs was creeping along Interstate 75, stuck in traffic about 9:30 a.m. Monday when a reckless driver swerved around traffic, careening along the left shoulder at a high rate of speed.

"It was well over 100, at least 120 mph, when it zoomed past me," she said.

It was the beginning of a daylong police investigation that included that driver left dead, a Lee County deputy injured and multiple police agencies piecing together evidence.

A traveling nurse, Ambrosi was returning from a shift in Lakewood Ranch near Bradenton, as she does three or four days a week. Monday, traffic was bumper to bumper, creeping along. The speeding car passed her near Exit 136. As she saw what had slowed traffic — a car pulled to the side of the highway — a Florida Highway Patrol trooper at that car motioned for a Lee County Sheriff's Office deputy to pursue the dark Nissan Altima passing the traffic.

"It looked like Florida Highway Patrol was pointing toward the car telling the deputy to go get that car," she said. As she navigated the highway, she watched the chase progress as she hit swells.

By the time she passed Corkscrew Road — Exit 123, other cars' drivers had slammed on their brakes and were leaving their cars to watch events unfold from the overpass. The deputy had stopped the Altima on the top part of the off ramp.

"As I'm passing, I see the deputy on the ground with the suspect and the suspect's car door wide open," she said." I knew it was not going to end well."

Lee County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Dektas said a deputy was injured and taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The sheriff's office later said the deputy was recovering at home, but did not release additional details.

Dektas confirmed Monday morning that the suspect was killed and the incident was an "officer-involved shooting" but did not elaborate.

Witnesses had reported the suspect got out of his car and attacked the deputy. For hours after the incident, dozens of law enforcement vehicles with lights flashing lined the ramp, with deputies using dogs to search the median near the Corkscrew Road exit.

About 3:40 p.m., the sheriff's department told reporters that deputies were in the process of notifying next of kin and would not release additional information until that was complete.

Florida Highway Patrol was assisting in the investigation.