Sheriff's officials find the shooting of a drug suspect appears justified, but Officers Joe Coyle and Paul Amodeo remain on paid leave as the State Attorney's Office investigates.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published April 16, 2004
LARGO - Though a final decision from State Attorney Bernie McCabe won't come for a couple of weeks, Pinellas sheriff's officials say the April 8 fatal shooting of a drug suspect by Largo police appears to be justified.
Meanwhile, an undercover officer injured in the shooting incident has returned to light duty, while a psychologist has determined all the officers involved in the shooting are fit to return to work.
Officers Joe Coyle and Paul Amodeo remain on paid administrative leave, which is routine after a shooting involving an officer. They were part of a team that was trying to arrest drug suspect Leroy Brown, 46, at the Clearwater-Largo Road Sunoco station.
The undercover officer, whom police officials have not identified, was trying to buy drugs from Brown and his wife, Ann Young-Brown, 57, in the gas station parking lot that night. Young-Brown was sitting in the front seat of a car that her husband was driving. The undercover officer opened the back door and sat down, but kept her legs hanging out of the car, sheriff's officials said.
The female officer had bought drugs from Brown four times previously. The plan was for officers to move in after the buy and arrest Brown.
But something apparently spooked Brown. With the undercover officer still half-in and half-out of the car, Brown suddenly moved it forward. The undercover officer said something to the effect of "Where are you going?"
That prompted the team to move in to ensure her safety, police said.
"You don't want him bolting down the road with undercover people in the back seat," said sheriff's Detective Mike Holbrook, the lead investigator on the case. "The danger element goes real high real quick."
Coyle and Amodeo were part of the take-down team, which was in an undercover van parked nearby. When officers heard over the wire the officer was wearing that Brown was trying to drive off, they moved in and blocked an exit with the van. As officers got out of the van, Brown put the car in reverse and rammed into a taxi. The undercover officer tumbled out of the car, police said.
Brown then drove toward the officers, sideswiping one. Coyle and Amodeo fired four times between them from .40-caliber semiautomatic handguns. Three of the bullets hit Brown; the fourth hit the car. Both Coyle and Amodeo fired bullets that would have killed Brown.
Brown was pronounced dead at Largo Medical Center. His wife was not injured in the shooting, but suffered some stress-related problems. She was taken to the hospital, then booked into the Pinellas County Jail two days later on charges of sale and possession of cocaine. She was held at the jail Thursday in lieu of $30,000 bail.
A fourth person in the car also was not injured, but the man was arrested in connection with a series of unrelated robberies.
Some law enforcement agencies have over the years changed policies to forbid officers to walk in front of cars with suspects inside. Though Largo does not have such a policy, it may not have mattered in this situation because officers were moving in to help an officer in danger.
"This was not a tactical vehicle stop, but rather an "officer rescue' operation," Police Chief Lester Aradi wrote in a memo Wednesday to city commissioners.
Now that all the witnesses in the case have been interviewed, sheriff's investigators plan to meet next week with prosecutors who will review the investigation to determine if the shooting was justified. That decision is expected to come in about two weeks.
Responding to some questions about officers conducting a drug investigation at such a public place, Aradi said in the memo that Brown would only sell drugs at the Sunoco station and at the nearby Publix. Officers thought the Sunoco location was safer.
The chief said trying to alter drug dealers' favorite spots can make them paranoid and more dangerous.
