FL - "Prankster" Shot, Killed By Off-Duty Officer

[GSG]

I think 06LemansC6 meant the bar...

Gotcha, my bad.

 

[Kalahari]

Even though the kid screwed up, I don't think "the price was right." I don't blame the cop, but...I hate seeing people getting themselves killed over stuff like this.

 

[vellnueve]

The kid and his friend are responsible, no one else. They made the decision to drink. They made the decision to go harassing people. And, if what the witness and the LEO said is true, the kid made the decision to attack the officer, and, if that was the case, the officer should bear no legal repercussions for his actions.

 

[Gonzo]

Last I heard, Sarasota was the capitol of rich single women.

 

[RI_John]

Physical evidence should easily bear out the LEO's story. The LEO claimed he was tackled so hard and violently that his head smashed into the pavement, then attacker tried to wrench the gun from him, so he had no choice but to shoot in self-defense. Smashing your head on pavement after being tackled-- he must have been rushed to the ER to be checked out, so there's the head wound evidence. He was tackled and in fear of being beaten to death, presumably, so the LEO must have fired while lying on the ground. So ballistics should bear that out, etc.

 

[teeg]

It is unfortunate that the kid is dead, but it has been said, play stupid games-win stupid prizes.
There are THREE sides to every story, the side from each party and what really happened.
By the statement in the story, made by the woman, that heard the kid's friend saying "why didn't you just handcuff him?", makes me think the officer did identify himself as such. With the background of the kid (prior DUI, parties and this particular night, underage drinking) he obviously isn't a glistening citizen, so maybe he did attack the officer.
Like I said there are three sides, maybe the officer's story is the truth, the reason I say this is the friend admitted to the "prank" and also did not deny anywhere in the articles that his friend tackled the officer. On the other hand, the friend also wasn't charged with any crime in the "prank". I am not defending either party here, just pointing out the "evidence" or lack there of.

 

[SecondAmdFirst]

I just wouldn't have gone after him with a gun in the first place. "Ring and run" isn't exactly BIG CRIME. However, if the kid did tackle the cop and go for his gun.....as others have said....play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

 

[Titan]

How drunk do you have to be to prank a house with a cop car in the driveway?

It seems to me that most people, even drunk would pass up such a home.

I suspect there is more to this than has been reported and that a prior conflict or two existed between the kid and the cop.

I could imagine the kid and his friends pranking a cop they were ticked off at. I could also imagine a ticked off cop chasing a group of kids he felt had a beef with him and were harassing him.

I'm with those who've posted that this all sounds too fishy. I don't think the cop should ever have left his house. Why didn't he do what any of us would have done and simply reported it to police?

By chasing the suspect, at a minimum, he interjected all of the adrenaline and increased emotions that accrue from a pursuit. Bad idea.

Most cops have policies against hot pursuit based on severity of the offense. Has doorbell ringing risen to the top of the list?

 

[Turbocharged]

Most cops have policies against hot pursuit based on severity of the offense. Has doorbell ringing risen to the top of the list?

As many have pointed out, the officer may have thought that the person ringing his doorbell and banging on his door was also responsible for several robberies. The first step to a robbery is to scope the place out to see if anyone is home, so this would be a logical conclusion.

 

[Jose]

Paranoid much?? JC where the hell do you live compton? I'm sorry but, ya this kid shouldnt have been pranking people but what next manhunts and hangings for a kid who prank calls someone...... "is your refrigerator running....."

If I recall BigRed is having problems with his neighbor douchebags doing the same to him, next time should he chase them and shoot them? I can promise he would be blasted here. So please just because some kid did something dumb does not warrant his murder, by any stretch.

Something certainly doesn't add up here but If that were me and some guy in his undies and slippers came and chased me down with a gun you could bet I would "fight back". This cop should have NEVER pursued him for knocking and running. Gimme a break....... This smells like crap all around.

No, your post smells like crap.

A police officer's job is to investigate crime. Ringing doorbells for no reason in the middle of the night as a prank falls right into "disturbance of the peace".

Sheriff's Deputies get paid to chase people who break laws and disturb the peace. When said peace disturber tries to grapple with a policeman, then the stakes have been raised to a whole nother level and not by the cop.

 

[Jose]

I would probably arm myself and depending on the neighborhood and history of events call the PD but certainly would not get in my car and go after him. Just sounds a little over zealous to me

HE'S A F-ING COP! IT IS HIS JOB TO GO AFTER LAWBREAKERS, NOT SIT ON HIS COUCH WONDERING WHAT TO DO.

 

[Jose]

I don't think the cop should ever have left his house. Why didn't he do what any of us would have done and simply reported it to police?

HOLY SHIT! Are you for real?

He IS THE POLICE!

UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE. Some of you actually want a cop who witnesses a crime, any crime, in his neighborhood to just call 911 and sit in his couch like a pussy? I'd want him FIRED if he did just that.

 

[securityboy]

I don't think the cop should ever have left his house. Why didn't he do what any of us would have done and simply reported it to police?

HOLY SHIT! Are you for real?

He IS THE POLICE!

UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE. Some of you actually want a cop who witnesses a crime, any crime, in his neighborhood to just call 911 and sit in his couch like a pussy? I'd want him FIRED if he did just that.

Jose +1000...

Only other thing I'll say is many of you are missing something (perhaps mislead by the title). The kid was NOT shot and killed for ringing a doorbell and taking off, he was shot as a result of his actions in tackling a police officer (assuming you believe the P.O. and independant witness)...

 

[SecondAmdFirst]

Assuming the evidence supports the LEOs statement, he is justified in shooting him. My thought was that going after him for a ring and run armed wasn't really necessary. He could have called for a uniformed officer. Another thing you have to think of, the guy ran out in shorts and a t-shirt....so I'm guessing no holster or badge? That being the case, he was a guy with a gun.

 

[Erebus]

Did you guys all miss this part of the article? It's at the bottom of page 1.

Sheriff's officials say they have an eyewitness who saw what happened and corroborated the deputy's version of events, though they did not release that person's name.

Fitchburg had a problem with houses getting broken into to the tune of one a day for about a month and a half earlier this year. So if they had a problem with break-ins in that area recently I can see why a Deputy would want to at least talk to someone that rang his doorbell, knocked on his door and fled once he answered the door.

Verdoni always parked his patrol car in front of his home, and it had recently been vandalized.

A neighbor said that Verdoni and his wife recently had a baby, and that there had been break-ins in the neighborhood.

I think I will believe the Deputy and the eye witness until given a better reason to doubt them than "Our son would never do that". Why is it that everyone is a good person that's turning their life around and "would never do that(again in some cases)" when a good cop with an impeccable record just decides to murder them?

 

[securityboy]

Assuming the evidence supports the LEOs statement, he is justified in shooting him. My thought was that going after him for a ring and run armed wasn't really necessary. He could have called for a uniformed officer. Another thing you have to think of, the guy ran out in shorts and a t-shirt....so I'm guessing no holster or badge? That being the case, he was a guy with a gun.

Sure a "guy with a gun" in a marked cruiser... from the article...

Deputy Carlos Verdoni, wearing shorts, a T-shirt and sandals, grabbed his gun and got into his squad car to find them -- a pursuit the sheriff's office and police experts say was within his authority, even when off-duty.

 

[pdm]

At 20 years old, you're no longer a "kid" and shouldn't be acting like one.

 

[SecondAmdFirst]

The kid was definitely stupid and going for the gun sealed his fate, not disputing that fact. I'll retract my earlier statement and wait until all the facts come out.

 

[Palladin]

I want to see the kid's BAC

I bet .18

 

[Kevlar]

Deputy Verdoni was at home with his family around midnight when the sheriff's office said two men rang the doorbell, then returned about an hour later and banged on the door.

The deputy got into his marked patrol car, located the two men one block away, and tried to take them into custody, according to Sheriff Tom Knight. The deputy then got into a tussle with one of the men.

"The subject was making efforts to remove the weapon, his duty weapon, from him [the deputy]," said Sheriff Knight. "At that time Deputy Verdoni continued to make commands to him and the altercation escalated, and Deputy Verdoni discharged his firearm two times, fatally injuring the subject."

Spann was pronounced dead at the scene, detectives say.

According to Sheriff Knight, there were witnesses who heard the deputy's verbal commands, "We have independent witnesses who saw the struggle, who saw the confrontation, heard the deputy's clear commands. We're confident these events are not in dispute at this time."

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/sun_coast/off-duty-deputy-involved-in-shooting-041610.

 

[06LemansC6]

I think 06LemansC6 meant the bar...

That's exactly what I meant. The family will have a wrongful death lawsuit saying none of this would have happened if my little angle wasn't served at the bar. After all you can't expect a 20 year old adult to be responsible for their own actions. That would mean that there are actually consequences for one's own actions. We can't have that now can we? We should just overlook the fact that this legal adult went out and unlawfully obtained and consumed alcohol, and once inebriated continued with unlawful activities. There MUST be someone else to blame. My little angle was a great kid. It couldn't possibly be that mom and dad did a shitty job teaching him to be a responsible adult.


I hope you can smell the sarcasm dripping from this post. [rant off]

 

[HKdrummer]

No, your post smells like crap.

A police officer's job is to investigate crime. Ringing doorbells for no reason in the middle of the night as a prank falls right into "disturbance of the peace".

Sheriff's Deputies get paid to chase people who break laws and disturb the peace. When said peace disturber tries to grapple with a policeman, then the stakes have been raised to a whole nother level and not by the cop.

You can be fairly rude sometimes ... All I was getting at was that, sure the kid did something stupid by ring and run, but to warrant chasing him down armed seems over the top. Especially if this is just a case of prank and run. By your standard, if your a cop and I call and hang up, you should use all levels of force and ability to find out who I was and prosecute me to the fullest extent of the law. Now someone above made several EXTREMELY great points IF in fact this kid tackled the officer so hard he smashed his head on the ground, injuries will prove this to be true, and as mentioned he would have most likely shot from the ground and ballistics will prove this out. If that is the case and the kid did this knowing he was attacking an officer than yes story proves he is in the right. case closed. but.....

I was saying it smelled like crap because there has to be more to this than the story is lending itself to. If in fact this is just a case of the kid being a moron escalating it to this level will have proved to be a shitty ending for both involved. I have many questions with this story like, is there previous history with these two? Did the officer identify himself as a cop? Sure he was in a cruiser however did he use his roof lights so the kid could tell it was a cop car? Or was he merely staring into blinding headlights, while a guy in shorts and sandals got out with a gun in hand? Sure there was a cruiser in the driveway but it's 1am and dark where was the car in relation to the front door? Even at the time he rang the doorbell, perhaps being that he was drunk and it was dark, the kid didn't see the cruiser at that point either?

There are just to many un answered variables for me to jump up and say either side was in the wrong or right. I'm not saying the kid was a saint and I'm not cop bashing but something just doesn't add up here. So Jose for you to just come on here and start throwing insults my way was a little childish, I was merely doing what I've learned from many fellow NESer's and that is to always ask questions and look at the possible variables before just jumping up and down. It seems to you that i'm in the wrong for asking questions......

 

[securityboy]

...All I was getting at was that, sure the kid did something stupid by ring and run, but to warrant chasing him down armed seems over the top.

Last time I checked virtually all police officers are armed...so I'm not following your logic on that...

...Especially if this is just a case of prank and run...

In your post you mention "unanswered variables" that should be reason enough for the officer to to investigate this while "armed" (the horror)...Sure it may just have been a "ring n run" could just as well have been some one "casing" his house...

...If that is the case and the kid did this knowing he was attacking an officer than yes story proves he is in the right. case closed. but...Did the officer identify himself as a cop? Sure he was in a cruiser however did he use his roof lights so the kid could tell it was a cop car? Or was he merely staring into blinding headlights, while a guy in shorts and sandals got out with a gun in hand? Sure there was a cruiser in the driveway but it's 1am and dark where was the car in relation to the front door? Even at the time he rang the doorbell, perhaps being that he was drunk and it was dark, the kid didn't see the cruiser at that point either?

So let me get this straight, your hypothesis seems to be that this "kid" may have been defending himself from a percieved threat...because in his drunken stupor he could identify that the "other guy" had a gun (a relatively small object) bold added above, but he at the same time he couldn't identify that the LARGE object that the "other guy" got out of was a police cruiser...for real...

 

[HKdrummer]

wow unbelievable. Cop shoots kid over what started as a relatively harmless prank. It escalates to something far worse, kid dies, and I'm a moron for asking questions. Gotcha!

 

[DickWanner]

Was the deputy uniformed or not? I tend to not follow commands from anyone out of uniform, even if the claim to be they Queen of England. Also if I am approached by a man with a gun shouting at me I'm going to assume the worst as well.

Then again, I don't go out drinking at the 'pub' and go knocking on people's doors at 1AM

 

[HKdrummer]

Was the deputy uniformed or not? I tend to not follow commands from anyone out of uniform, even if the claim to be they Queen of England. Also if I am approached by a man with a gun shouting at me I'm going to assume the worst as well.

Then again, I don't go out drinking at the 'pub' and go knocking on people's doors at 1AM

According to the article he was in shorts, a tank top and a sandals.

 

[DickWanner]

wow unbelievable. Cop shoots kid over what started as a relatively harmless prank. It escalates to something far worse, kid dies, and I'm a moron for asking questions. Gotcha!

The story now states that he rang the doorbell and then returned an hour later and banged on the door. I'm less inclined now to believe it was a prank, but at the same time I don't think sandal-clad deputies should attempt to detain anyone with nothing more than a sidearm.

At this point I gotta call it a draw, stupid kid had his life ended and a LEO has to live with killing someone. You can spend all day speculating out of your fifth point of contact, but in the end those are the only facts that matter...

 

[DickWanner]

He IS THE POLICE!

 

[06LemansC6]

Was the deputy uniformed or not? I tend to not follow commands from anyone out of uniform, even if the claim to be they Queen of England. Also if I am approached by a man with a gun shouting at me I'm going to assume the worst as well.

The way I read the article the officer was not uniformed. He did have a marked police car in his driveway and chased the suspects in a MARKED police car. I assume you wouldn't go tackling a man who got out of a marked police car identified himself as an officer and wished to question you.

There are many unmarked plain clothes officers in the area. I have a hard time believing you would no comply with them. If you choose not to, all I can say is good luck when you appear in court.

Then again, I don't go out drinking at the 'pub' and go knocking on people's doors at 1AM

I think you hit the nail on the head here. It all could have been avoided had stupidity not been a factor.

 

[HKdrummer]

The story now states that he rang the doorbell and then returned an hour later and banged on the door. I'm less inclined now to believe it was a prank, but at the same time I don't think sandal-clad deputies should attempt to detain anyone with nothing more than a sidearm.

At this point I gotta call it a draw, stupid kid had his life ended and a LEO has to live with killing someone. You can spend all day speculating out of your fifth point of contact, but in the end those are the only facts that matter...

Now see! This is what I was getting at with my previous posts. There was and most likely more to this story than originally stated. Either these two had previous history or the kid was up to something a tad bit more malicious, and as I stated play stupid....