Suspect shot by Bradenton police after reversing car into officer released on $65,000 bond

BRADENTON -- The man shot by a Bradenton police officer after he reportedly reversed a car into the officer has been released from jail on bonds totaling $65,000.

Travis Hardy, 31, was leaving his girlfriend's apartment after she refused to let him in when Bradenton police officers arrived at 3:02 a.m. Monday to reports of a domestic disturbance in the 2400 block of 13th Street West, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. A 911 caller reported Hardy was banging on the door in what appeared to be an attempt to break in.

The woman identified Hardy as her boyfriend to police and officers approached the vehicle. Officer Christopher Bennett was standing between the back of the car and a Dumpster as he reversed and Bennett ordered him to stop.

The car hit Bennett in the right knee and he then started shooting at the car, the warrant states. Hardy then turned the car to the left and fled north to Palmetto where he was apprehended by the Bradenton and Palmetto police departments and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office at a home in the 600 block of 27th Street East in Palmetto.

Hardy was taken to Blake Medical Center to be treated for nonlife-threatening gunshots wounds, police said.

Hardy was charged Thursday with battery on a law enforcement officer, driving while license is suspended with knowledge and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He was released Friday from the Manatee County jail on bonds totaling $65,000.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's investigation into the police-involved shooting is ongoing. Bennett remains on paid administrative leave.

During the execution of a search warrant on the car Hardy was driving, investigators found a Smith and Wesson .40-caliber handgun with one live round in the chamber and three in the magazine on the floorboard between the seat and door, the affidavit states. The handgun had been reported stolen to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office in 2011.

Inside the center console of the car investigators found a clear bag of methamphetamine, a clear bag of rock cocaine, a clear bag of marijuana and a clear bag with several baggies of cocaine, according to the affidavit.

The warrant affidavit lists Hardy's previous convictions for possession of a firearm by convicted felon, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to sell. It also lists 11 times his license had been suspended or revoked since 2004, and never reinstated.

Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitter@JDeLeon1012.

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Suspect shot by Bradenton police after reversing car into officer released on $65,000 bond ."