NORTH PORT, Fla. — A man now is in custody after reportedly stabbing his parents to death in their North Port home.
According to the North Port Police Department (NPPD), officers responded after a person called 911 saying a woman was bloodied and screaming for help while knocking on the door of her North Port home. Police arrived at the scene on 1240 Mallicoat Road at around 11:56 p.m.
Once they arrived, NPPD said officers saw a man, later identified as 21-year-old Dima James Tower, bloodied and shutting the trunk of a vehicle. Officers tried to stop Tower but he fled the scene in a black car.
As Tower drove off, police chased him on Toledo Blade Boulevard. He headed north on I-75 at high speeds before spike strips forced him to stop near mile marker 192.
Tower then got out of the vehicle and ran off into the woods, police said.
After eight hours of searching, Venice police officers captured him at the Shell Gas Station located at 1000 Knight’s Trail Road.
Friends of the family told ABC7 the victims are Tower’s adoptive parents, Rob and Jennifer. They adopted him from Ukraine.
The Towers brought the neighborhood together and friends say they will be missed dearly.
Tower has since been booked into the Sarasota County Jail and is being charged with two counts of 2nd-degree murder. Previous records show he was arrested for felony battery in 2020 after attacking a man inside the home.