Suspect dies after wreck, shootout with Tampa police

WTSP-TV, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

Show Caption Hide Caption Suspect dies after car chase and police shootout A car chase between police and a man suspected of a series of home invasions and sexual assaults ended with a crash and shootout in Tampa, Florida. The suspect was taken to the hospital and later died.

Charlie Bates was suspected in 2 home invasions%2C 1 previous assault

He is accused of entering apartment near University of South Florida%2C binding 4 men%2C assaulting 4 women

The same man then went to three other apartments%2C brandishing gun%2C shooting

TAMPA — A man believed to have committed several home invasions and sexual assaults died Friday after a chase and shootout with police.

The manhunt for Charlie Christopher Bates, 24, ended shortly after 12:30 p.m. Friday when police rammed the car he was driving, sending it off the roadway. What followed was 2 minutes of gunfire between police and the suspect. When the gunfire ended, Bates was pulled from the car seriously injured.

He died at an area hospital less than an hour later.

Earlier Friday, police had identified Bates as the prime suspect in a series home invasions overnight near the University of South Florida.

He was accused of entering an apartment at about 11 p.m. Thursday, binding four male occupants with duct tape and sexually assaulting four female residents. The women were all college students, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee and Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor said at a news conference earlier in the day.

Bates then allegedly entered another apartment at gunpoint but did not harm the woman who lived there after she pleaded with the suspect not to harm her, police said.

He then went to an apartment where about two dozen people were attending a football party. The suspect forced all the partygoers into a bedroom at gunpoint and fired at least one shot into the carpeted floor.

Bates then left that apartment and began chasing a man who was outside, officers said. The man made it back to his apartment and closed the door. The suspect is accused of firing at least three rounds at the man, who was not hit. At least one round struck the door.

"We could not allow him to go any further," Gee wrote on Twitter.

The hunt for Bates affected classes at 17 area schools, which put their campuses on partial lockdown.

Tampa Police said Bates also was a suspect in home invasions Aug. 9 and Tuesday. In the latter, he stole credit cards and was later caught on a surveillance camera using the cards.

On Aug. 29, Bates allegedly approached a woman while she was sitting on her screened porch, forced her into her apartment at gunpoint and ordered her to undress.

She began reciting Bible verses and prayed for the suspect. Police say his demeanor changed, he apologized and gave her a shirt to cover herself.

They prayed together, she ripped out pages from her Bible to give to Bates and he left the apartment. But he cut himself on glass as he broke into her home and police were able to retrieve his DNA from the blood he left behind.

That DNA linked him to his most recent crime spree, authorities say.

Contributing: The Associated Press