See his sling? K9 caught wanted suspect 'hiding behind a large pile of clothing,' cops say

FRUITLAND PARK, Fla. (TND) — A repeat offender who served two stints in state prison was wearing a sling for his latest booking photo, two weeks after he ran away from a traffic stop, and he wasn't even the driver.

A police officer in Florida wrote she "conducted a random query of the license plate" of a blue Dodge pickup truck she happened to see on the evening of May 28.

It turned out, the registered owner had a suspended license, so she conducted a traffic stop.

“As the truck pulled into the parking lot,” her affidavit said, she saw a man “exit the passenger side of the truck and begin to run southeast across the field and into the wood line.

“[She] exited her vehicle and began to run after him, giving loud verbal commands to stop.”

He didn't.

Instead, she described what he was wearing, his build, his tattoos, and “prominent ears, where the outer ring of the ear was sticking out further away from the skull.”

The office had to find out who the suspect was, so she returned to the truck and the two women inside.

The driver “initially advised she did not know who the subject was, as she was just giving him a ride,” the officer wrote, but she reported finding “a grayish black-in-color backpack on the floorboard where the male, later identified as Austin Levi Russell,” had been sitting.

She said both told her “it was the defendant’s,” so she asked the driver “for consent to retrieve the backpack and search it, since it was inside her vehicle,” and the driver “granted consent.”

The officer wrote she was “searching the backpack for any type of identification that may belong to the defendant,” when she found a black knife and, “A plaid wallet-type pouch was located containing foil, a cut straw with residue, and a hollowed-out pen with residue.”

Then, she wrote about finding “a used syringe,” as well as “a blue-in-color digital scale, a plastic bag containing a multitude of unused green-in-color dime bags, a roll of electrical tape, and four oblong-shaped packages tightly wrapped in black-in-color electrical tape.”

As for the owner, the driver reportedly told the officer his name was “Justin. However, both [women] eventually advised they knew the defendant and admitted that his name was Austin Russell.

“When spoken to separately, [they both] advised they were at a friend's house in Leesburg and the defendant was there, and asked for a ride. Both [women] had corroborating stories.”

And later, in sworn statements, they “identified the defendant by name, stating they were 100% certain it was the defendant who was in the vehicle and possessed the backpack, based on them knowing the defendant for 13 and 20 years.”

Later in the arrest report, the officer wrote everything found in the backpack tested presumptive positive for either K3/NACA (synthetic cannabinoid), or for THC.

Then, she asked for an arrest report for Russell for possession with intent to distribute synthetic cannabinoid, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting an officer without violence.

She also mentioned he had two active arrest warrants at the time.

Russell was wanted for failure to appear on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of paraphernalia on May 17 — 11 days earlier — and grand theft auto, driving with a suspended license, and fleeing or eluding law enforcement just nine days before that.

According to the earlier affidavit, a friend told a sheriff’s deputy Russell stabbed a man at a casino. Then, when he learned the victim “was in critical condition, [the friend said] Austin grabbed the keys to the silver Toyota Avalon and fled the residence.” Two days later, “he was unable to reach Austin by phone or locate the vehicle.”

Even after literally running away from the traffic stop, Russell was reportedly seen but not arrested while driving a silver Ford edge on June 3.

“The driver's window was down,” another deputy wrote, “and I obtained a clear, unobstructed view of the driver who made eye contact with me as he was attempting to roll the window up. I recognized the driver from previous personal contacts and was able to positively identify him as Austin Russell.” But Russell got away again, despite lights and sirens.

Russell’s luck ran out on June 12 after authorities got a tip he was at a home in Leesburg.

“Deputies made loud verbal announcements for the defendant to show himself,” the arrest report said. “The defendant still concealed himself in a back bedroom.

“[Another deputy] and K9 Ex made entry into the residence where they found the defending hiding behind a large pile of clothing.

“Deputies made several announcements for the defendant to come out, and the defendant still refused to come out, and was subsequently apprehended by K9 Ex.”

Russell, 28, was taken to the hospital “for medical treatment” and then booked into jail for earlier charges, plus another count of resisting without violence.

He pleaded no contest to that last charge, was adjudicated guilty, and sentenced to time served. He pleaded not guilty to the others.

Online information shows Russell’s bond was set at $17,500, and he has neither paid it nor been released.