Sandy MaloneFlagler County, FL – It was a very close call for a Florida woman whom deputies arrived to save just as her boyfriend was chasing her with a gun across their yard (video below).
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) posted a statement that said it received a 911 call from a woman on April 2 who said she was receiving threatening text messages from her long-term boyfriend from whom she was estranged.
The woman showed responding deputies text messages from 39-year-old Aaron Thayer that threatened her life.
“Hope you die,” Thayer wrote in a series of texts. “I’m coming down and I’m going to fix this for ever… Imma kill you.”
The woman lived with Thayer on a property on Apricot Avenue owned by his father, who has been missing since May of 2015, according to Flagler Live.
She told deputies that her estranged boyfriend was in Connecticut but she thought he was on his way back to Florida to kill her, according to the sheriff’s department.
The woman said that Thayer had strangled and beaten her in December of 2020 but she hadn’t called authorities at the time, Flagler Live reported.
She also said he had kicked her in the face with steel-toed boots in the past.
The victim warned that Thayer had set up surveillance cameras all over the property to watch her and had deputies meet her in a “blind spot,” FCSO explained in its statement.
Thayer continued to send the woman threatening text messages after deputies arrived.
The sheriff’s department said he also called his girlfriend, and deputies had her answer so that they could try to track his location through the call.
Deputies could hear Thayer threatening to kill the victim on the phone call and asking who he had seen with her on the property, Flagler Live reported.
Afterwards, deputies helped the woman disconnect the cameras watching her, according to the statement.
FCSO said detectives got a warrant for Thayer’s arrest with nationwide extradition on charges of sending written threats to kill.
Deputies offered the victim an alternate place to stay but she declined and opted to stay in the home she shared with Thayer, the sheriff’s department said.
Authorities repeatedly pinged Thayer’s cell phone and tracked him as he moved south from Connecticut until he turned off his phone, Flagler Live reported.
FCSO said deputies conducted multiple security checks on the residence on April 3, and there were deputies nearby just after 3 p.m. when the woman called 911 and reported Thayer was at the house and trying to break in using a tire iron.
Thayer was able to force the back door open before help arrived, the sheriff’s department’s statement said.
The victim told deputies he threatened her life, stole $400, a grabbed a gun off her nightstand and cocked it.
She fled and he chased her, according to the statement.
Deputies arrived on the scene just as the woman raced out of the house with an armed Thayer right on her heels.
The woman took cover behind the deputies’ vehicle while the law enforcement officers confronted the armed suspect, according to the sheriff’s department.
Bodycam video showed deputies ordered Thayer to the ground multiple times and he ignored their orders.
“This is ridiculous bro, this is my f-king house,” the suspect told deputies.
“On your knees,” the deputies yelled in the video. “Do it now!”
A moment later, the video showed one of the deputies deployed a Taser at Thayer and took him to the ground.
“Signal zero, he’s got a f-king gun in his waistband,” one of the deputies said in the video.
Bodycam video showed Thayer resisted arrest and continued screaming at his estranged girlfriend while deputies handcuffed him.
Once Thayer had been detained in handcuffs, deputies searched him and found a loaded handgun and a knife in his waistband, according to FCSO.
Thayer didn’t seem to understand the seriousness of his crimes when he spoke with deputies as he was being arrested, Flagler Live reported.
“So where do I go from here, man?” he asked as deputy in the video.
“To jail,” the deputy replied.
“For, for-for real? To jail? For what?” Thayer asked.
“Threats to kill,” the deputy said in the video.
“Pfffft. Wow. Unreal,” Thayer complained.
“No, it’s very real,” the deputy confirmed.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly praised his deputies’ handling of the potentially deadly situation, Flagler Live reported.
“This guy told the victim he was going to kill her and less than 24-hours later he had driven all night and was at her door to kill her,” Sheriff Staly said in a statement. “I am so thankful that my deputies were able to intercept this guy and used their training, tactics and de-escalation techniques before he was able to hurt anyone. They handled a very volatile and dangerous situation by running toward danger to protect the victim.”
“This situation that could have had an entirely different outcome with either the victim, suspect or deputies injured or killed if not for the heroic efforts of our deputies,” the sheriff added.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. WARNING – Graphic Content and Obscene Language:
Holly Matkin
