Sarasota Police officer uninjured after shooting incident

The suspect was taken to the hospital following events in the 500 block of Beneva Road, police said.

By Eric Garwood
| 11:29 a.m. November 15, 2022

Sarasota Police Department Public Information Officer Genevieve Judge addresses the media Tuesday about an officer involved shooting near the intersection of Beneva and Fruitville roads. (Andrew Warfield)

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A Sarasota police officer shot a 71-year-old suspect after responding to a robbery call on Tuesday. The officer was uninjured.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents are investigating the 10 a.m. incident near Fruitville and Beneva roads that began as a robbery call in a parking lot.

The suspect, Robert Paul Briandi, was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital and is in stable condition Wednesday following surgery. The officer, a 17-year veteran assigned to the patrol division, was placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure. SPD has not released his name. The FDLE is the lead investigating agency into the shooting while the SPD is investigating the attempted armed robbery, which began outside a Publix store at 501 N. Beneva Road.

On Wednesday, SPD released the body camera footage to the media, which shows the officer exiting his vehicle in the parking lot of the Homewood Suites hotel at 3470 Fruitville Road. The footage shows Briandi with a knife, and the officer ordering him to drop the weapon and get on the ground. Briandi failed to comply, then took several steps toward the officer before the officer fired twice.

Police body camera still image of this morning's officer-involved shooting near the intersection of Beneva and Fruitville roads. (Courtesy photo)

According to police, an 83-year-old woman, the victim in the robbery, told officers she finished shopping and, after unloading her cart, said she was approached by Briandi, who tried to take her purse.

“She did a heck of a job fighting him off,” said Capt. John Todd, commander of the SPD Criminal Investigations Division. “She was attacked from behind by an assailant with a knife. She did a really good job of protecting herself.”

A witness saw what was happening and tried to help the victim. The suspect started to leave the area, but the witness followed him, videoing him with his phone while calling 911.

Briandi is facing two counts aggravated assault with a weapon without intent to kill, and armed robbery.

Briandi has a multi-state criminal history dating back to 1973, Todd said.

(Staff writer Andrew Warfield contributed to this report)