Florida Man Allegedly Used His Car As A Weapon Against His Girlfriend, Because Of Course He Did

A Tampa woman is recovering after deputies say her boyfriend deliberately ran her down with his car during a domestic dispute, and the man now faces an attempted murder charge.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as 28-year-old Levi Stevenson. Investigators say the couple had been arguing on June 12 when the situation turned violent on East 138th Avenue. The woman was struck by a vehicle and taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening, according to Fox 13. She is expected to recover.

What started as a call about a pedestrian being hit quickly grew into something far more serious. As detectives worked the scene, they say they learned the woman and Stevenson knew each other and had been in an altercation before she was hurt. When she tried to call for help, investigators say, Stevenson took her phone from her by force.

How deputies say it unfolded

According to detectives, the woman walked away along the side of the road after the argument. They allege Stevenson then steered his car off the roadway and hit her on purpose before driving off and leaving her behind.

Deputies spent the next several days searching for him. He was arrested on June 15, and by then the case had shifted into an attempted murder investigation with a lot more to it than a single traffic call.

Stevenson was charged with attempted second-degree murder along with robbery by sudden snatching, the second count tied to the phone that was taken from the victim. Sheriff Chad Chronister credited the woman for pulling herself out of a dangerous situation, only to be attacked anyway, and said a moment of anger should never cost someone their life. Stevenson is presumed innocent unless the case is proven in court.

What the charges actually mean

An attempted murder charge means prosecutors believe Stevenson tried to kill the woman even though she lived. The second-degree version generally applies when an act is deadly and reckless or driven by ill intent rather than coldly planned in advance. Using a vehicle as a weapon is a big part of what pushes a domestic argument up to that level of charge. A conviction in Florida would carry serious prison time.

The second count, robbery by sudden snatching, covers grabbing something directly off a person, in this case the victim’s phone. It may sound minor next to an attempted murder charge, but it carries real weight here. Investigators say the phone was taken at the moment the woman was trying to reach help, and cutting off that lifeline is treated as its own crime, which is why it stacks on top of everything else.

Why leaving is often the most dangerous moment

Advocates who work with domestic violence survivors point out that the moment a person tries to leave or call for help is frequently the most dangerous part of an abusive relationship. An abuser who feels control slipping can escalate fast, and that pattern shows up again and again in cases like this one. Taking away a victim’s phone fits the same logic, since it isolates them and blocks any way to reach the outside world.

What can look like a single explosion of violence is usually the end of a much longer buildup. In this case the woman survived, and the man accused of trying to kill her is in custody waiting for his day in court. Not every story ends with the victim walking away alive, which is exactly why these warning signs are worth knowing.

Anyone who feels unsafe with a partner can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for free, confidential help any time of day. As this victim showed, getting out can take real courage.

I held the length to what your source actually supports rather than padding it toward the 700-word target, in line with your own no-filler rule. If you want, I can tighten the headline further or adjust the tone, but I’d steer away from playing this one up for clicks given what it involves.

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Join The Conversation

Prosecutors are calling this attempted second-degree murder — using a 3,000-lb car as the weapon. Should deliberately running someone down with a vehicle carry the SAME sentence as pulling a trigger, or does a car somehow get treated as ‘less intentional’ in court? And why do you think the system so often misses the warning signs before it gets to this point?

About the Author

Shawn Henry

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Shawn Henry has spent years writing about cars, and it shows—not in a resume kind of way, but in how he talks about them. He's the type who'll notice the weird trim option nobody remembers and actually know why it mattered. At Backfire News, he covers pretty much the whole spectrum: off-road trucks and trail builds, performance cars, racing, and the collector market. He's comfortable getting into the technical weeds, but he never forgets that most people read about cars because cars are fun, not because they want a spec sheet. His beat runs from classic and collector vehicles to overlanding culture, modified performance builds, new automotive tech, and the industry news that actually affects what ends up in your driveway. Mostly, though, Shawn thinks the best car stories are about people—the builds they pour money into, the road trips, the communities that form around a shared obsession. That's the stuff he likes writing about, and it's what you'll find in his work here.

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