Ex-sheriff staffer fabricated coverup story after accidentally shooting himself
A former Florida sheriff’s employee resigned after he fabricated a story to cover up accidentally shooting himself with his own firearm — and now faces charges stemming from the incident.
Dakotah Wood, a former telecommunicator with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, called police on June 30 to report an attempted carjacking and shooting at Linda Pederson Park, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
Wood, 21, told officers that “two unknown black males attempted to steal his vehicle” and that “the men displayed a firearm and made a threat to kill him before shooting him in the thigh.”
He then claimed to authorities that the shooter collected the shell casing before fleeing the area on foot.
“After being shot, Wood said he obtained his personal firearm and fired approximately five rounds in self-defense. Wood further advised he believed he hit one of the suspects several times,” the sheriff’s office said.
Wood was taken to an area hospital for treatment of his gunshot wound, where he later admitted to detectives he had made up the entire story.
After coming clean, Wood said he was upset over issues he was having with his girlfriend and accidentally shot himself while he was “playing” with his firearm in his vehicle.
He told authorities he made up the story about the attempted car-jacking because he did not want to get into trouble.
“These types of situations are relatively rare, unfortunate, and unpleasant,” Sheriff Al Nienhuis said.
“My administration, however, has a very public reputation of holding my people accountable for their actions. The public can be confident that when an employee does something of this nature, they will forfeit their ability to be associated with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.”
Wood was arrested on charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, false reports of commission of crimes and discharging a firearm in public or residential property. His bond was set at $7,000.
He resigned from his job at the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office while being investigated.
