June 20, 2025

Armed Felony Suspect Shot And Killed During Confrontation With Deputies At Escambia Arby’s

By Dale Hines
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News

June 20, 2025

PENSACOLA, Fla. Authorities in Escambia County Florida are conducting several investigations after deputies fatally shot a man that they were trying to arrest.

A spokesperson for the sheriff’s department stated that they received information that a man with outstanding felony warrants had been seen in the area of the Arby’s on U.S. 98 west of Pensacola, near the Myrtle Grove community.
Deputies were dispatched at around 3 p.m. to the area to try and locate the wanted person.

The Sheriff’s Office has not named the man, but family members identified him as 37-year-old Daniel Lewis Hayes. They said that he had worked at Arby’s for about 12 years, first at another location and then more recently on U.S. 98.

As three deputies pulled into the parking lot of Arby’s they saw the wanted man who then ran inside of the restaurant.

At that point, the sheriff’s department states that the man jumped the counter and got into a physical altercation with a deputy before pushing him to the ground and was resisting arrest and assaulting the deputy.

Investigators said he then grabbed a large knife and confronted three deputies, ignoring commands from the deputies to drop the knife.

Authorities said the man then charged at deputies, and that’s when the deputies opened fire.

EMS was called to the scene, but the man was deceased.

The Sheriff’s Office said Hayes was facing charges related to an incident last Friday in which he was accused of holding a screwdriver to a victim’s throat. He faced charges of domestic battery strangulation, aggravated assault, burglary, and grand theft.

Investigators said no one else was hurt during this confrontation. Per agency policy, the three deputies will be placed on paid administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducts an independent investigation.