Authorities: Fugitive who killed Florida police officers didn’t want to return to prison

MIAMI – A fugitive trying to evade an arrest warrant shot a police officer and then ran him over, killing the officer, police said.

Marco Antonio Parilla Jr., 23, crashed his car into a pole and another vehicle after running over officer Charles Kondek early Sunday. Parilla was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder.

The shooting did not appear to have any connection to the ambush killings of two New York police officers a day earlier.

Authorities said Kondek responded to a noise call around 2 a.m. at an apartment complex. Parilla was pounding on doors, looking for a neighbour who “dimed him out” to police, authorities said. When Parilla saw Kondek, he fired multiple rounds at the officer, striking him once above his bullet-proof vest.

According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Parilla served more than two years in prison for several offences, including drug charges, and was released in March. He was listed as a fugitive for violating his probation. It wasn’t immediately clear what the violation was.

Police said Parilla told investigators that when he saw the officer he “felt like a caged rat” and didn’t want to return to prison.

“I apologize to the family” of the officer, Parilla told media while being escorted to jail. “That was not my intention.”

Kondek, 45, had been with the local force for 17 years. Originally from New York, Kondek previously served on the New York City Police Department for more than five years, authorities said.

Kondek was the father of six children.