Tampa, Florida -- The man believed to have committed several home invasions and sexual batteries Thursday night near the University of uSouth Florida has died, following a chase and shootout with police.
The manhunt for Charlie Christopher Bates ended shortly after 12:30 p.m., after police rammed a car he was driving, which went off-road in front of a*Waffle House on US Highway 301 in Tampa. What followed was an intense two minutes of gunfire between police and the suspect. When the shooting ended, Bates was pulled from the car, seriously injured with multiple gunshot wounds. *He was taken by ambulance from the scene, and died at the hospital around 1:21 p.m. No police officers were injured in the gun battle.
Earlier in the day, Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee said they were looking for a person whose cell phone was found with Bates. Gee added that Bates told one of his victims Thursday night that he had killed someone and police were concerned about the cell phone's owner safety. Investigators later reported the cell phone's owner was found safe and not one of Bates' victims.
Investigators say they do not know at this time why Bates began his crime spree.*This all started just after 11 p.m. Thursday when the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office received a call from Florida Hospital indicating two women claimed they had just been sexually battered while inside their apartment at the Cambridge Wood Apartments.
USF's website*sent out an alert describing it as*"an unsafe situation has been reported in the vicinity north of the USF TAMPA between Fletcher and Skipper and from 42nd St. to 46th Street."
Investigators identified the suspect as 24-year-old Charlie Christopher Bates. He has multiple tattoos on his arms and neck, is 5'9" and about 160 to 170 pounds with shoulder-length dreadlocks. Police say he wears his dreadlocks in a pony tail.
Bates allegedly entered the victims' apartment on Shiloh Woods Court, where he bound four male occupants with duct tape and sexually battered four adult females. Deputies say the women were all USF students.
The suspect then fled the apartment complex and entered a nearby apartment in Eagle's Point. There, deputies say Bates forced his way into a woman's apartment at gunpoint. Tampa Police say the victim pleaded with the suspect to not harm her. The suspect ultimately did leave, without taking anything or assaulting the woman.
Deputies say Bates next arrived at Oaks Apartments, which is directly across 42nd Street from the original incident at the Cambridge Woods Apartments.*He went into an apartment where about 25 people were attending a birthday party. The suspect forced all partygoers into a bedroom at gunpoint, firing at least one shot into the carpet.*
The suspect then left the apartment, where he began chasing a man who was outside.
The man made it back into his apartment and closed the door. Bates allegedly fired at least three rounds at the man, who was not hit. At least one round struck the door...
