The Florida Department of Corrections released Shakoi Donovan on May 21, 2026.
Ten weeks later, he had a female officer pinned against his steering wheel in a speeding car.
And this female police officer had to eject herself while the car was still moving.
The Stop That Became a Nightmare
Officers Maznaritz and Murray pulled Donovan's silver Infiniti just before 3 a.m. on August 1 in Eustis – a small town 40 miles northwest of Orlando.
The car was weaving over the yellow line.
When they walked up, smoke was billowing from under the hood.
They told him twice to kill the engine.
He refused – said he had an oil leak and a starter issue and didn't want to stall it.
Officers smelled marijuana.
They asked him to step out.
He refused again.
Then again.
Then again.
https://twitter.com/AmericanCrime01/status/2084321185588805912?s=20
When they reached in to physically remove him, Donovan hit the gas.
Officer Murray went with him – trapped between the driver and the steering wheel, pinned inside the car with no way out.
Officer Maznaritz grabbed on and got dragged 10 to 15 feet down S. Eustis Street asphalt, tumbling across the pavement before losing his grip.
The radio call captured on bodycam says everything: "He's taking off Eustis 77 is in the car!"
Murray rode in that car for the length of a football field before managing to eject herself.
"She was pinned between the suspect and the steering wheel,” one officer said. “As he drove off, she was able to break free after about 330 feet and fell to the ground,” he continued. “Eight and nine seconds might seem like a quick time, but man, when you're living it, it seems like hours."
Another officer found her lying in a nearby intersection.
Maznaritz was treated for injuries at the scene.
Murray is still recovering.
Donovan fled and stayed gone for nearly 14 hours before turning himself in.
The Part the Story Buries
Donovan wasn't some first-time offender who snapped under pressure.
He walked out of state prison after serving time for aggravated assault with a weapon and cocaine possession.
https://twitter.com/TheOfficerTatum/status/2085002468144865600?s=20
He had a prior arrest for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
He had a 2022 arrest for burglary and battery in Lake County.
He is now facing two counts of violation of probation on top of the new charges.
This man was on probation.
At 3 a.m.
Driving impaired.
And the Florida Department of Corrections signed his release papers ten weeks before he allegedly tried to kill two cops.
Florida Keeps Releasing Men Like This
Florida's own recidivism data tells you exactly what happens next in stories like this one.
One in four Florida inmates is back in the system within three years of release.
One in three within five years.
Those numbers only count the ones who went back to prison – not the ones who went to county jail, not the ones whose victims never reported, not the ones whose cases never made the evening news.
Donovan's release wasn't a glitch.
It was the system working exactly as designed – and Officers Maznaritz and Murray paid the price for it.
https://twitter.com/FoxUSNews/status/2085754192438907168?s=20
Donovan faces attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing to elude resulting in injury, two counts of resisting with violence, four counts of resisting without violence, and two counts of probation violation.
Florida law gives him a court date of August 24.
What it didn't give Officers Maznaritz and Murray was any warning that the man they were walking up to had been out of state prison for less than ten weeks.
That information was sitting in a database somewhere in Tallahassee.
The officers were walking in the dark.
Sources:
- Kelsie Cairns, "Watch: Wild Traffic Stop Turns Chaotic as Suspect Drives Off with One Cop Inside, Drags Second Officer," Fox News, August 7, 2026.
- Amy Diaz, "Eustis Man Faces Attempted Murder Charge After Dragging Officer 330 Feet," WFTV, August 1, 2026.
- Marilyn M. Aciego, "Eustis Releases Bodycam Footage, Report in Officer-Dragging Incident," Inside Lake, August 4, 2026.
- "Body Cam: Eustis Police Officers Dragged by Car During Traffic Stop," Fox 35 Orlando, August 2026.
- Lowell Cauffiel, "Watch: Florida Man Charged After Fleeing Traffic Stop with a Cop Still Inside His Car," Breitbart News, August 8, 2026.
- Florida Department of Corrections, Quarterly Recidivism Report 2026-Q2.
