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Police revise account of shooting

They say a man fatally shot after a traffic stop got out of his car once, then jumped back in and drove it toward an officer.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published May 21, 2005

TAMPA - A day after police shot and killed a motorist they said tried to run them down after a traffic stop, officials revised an earlier version of events leading to the shooting.

Gregory Sanderson, 33, of Tampa, was shot to death at 4205 River Hills Drive Thursday night shortly after he was pulled over for driving through a stop sign, Tampa police said.

They initially said Sanderson never got out of the Daiwoo he was driving when he stepped on the accelerator as Officer Jason Brocato stepped in front of the car.

But Friday, Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said Sanderson did get out of the car. She said he fought with Brocato and Officer David Joyner even after the officers tried to shoot him with their Taser guns to stun him.

The confrontation began when Joyner pulled Sanderson over for running a stop sign shortly after 8 p.m., according to police. Police said Sanderson gave Joyner a false name, at which point Joyner called for backup.

When Brocato showed up, the two officers ordered Sanderson to get out of the car. At one point, Sanderson told them that he was an emergency medical technician and was in a rush to get to work, McElroy said. He called someone on his cell phone and told them to tell the officers he was an EMT.

Eventually Sanderson complied and got out of the car, but grew "combative" and started fighting the officers, McElroy said. Brocato and Joyner tried to control him with their Tasers, but he kept fighting, according to police.

Sanderson jumped back into the car, sliding over to the passenger side. Brocato started to run around the front of the car to take Sanderson into custody, but Sanderson slid back to the driver's seat and hit the gas, according to police.

"The car lurched forward and the officer felt like (Sanderson) was intentionally trying to run him over," McElroy said. "So the two officers opened fire."

The car continued to move forward after the shots were fired, crashing into a tree 150 feet away off River Hills Drive.

Sanderson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both officers are on administrative leave pending the outcome of a State Attorney's Office investigation. The Police Department's shooting investigation team and internal affairs bureau also are investigating.

Brocato, 24, joined the department 71/2 months ago. Joyner has been a Tampa police officer for 61/2 months.

The day before the shooting, Tampa police got a warrant to arrest Sanderson, who also goes by the Muslim last name of Yazid, McElroy said.

The warrant stemmed from a May 2 incident. Officers were called to 8206 N 22nd St., where Sanderson's wife, Virginia Yazid, said he had beaten her. According to officers, her lip was split and her face was swollen.

She told officers Sanderson beat her because he was jealous of her new job. She had just graduated from EMT school, McElroy said.

McElroy said police didn't connect the man shot by police with the domestic violence warrant until after they fingerprinted his body, because the warrant was issued under the name Yazid.

Sanderson was in prison from 1989 to 1998, convicted of four robberies or attempted robberies. He was armed in three of those instances, state records show.

Police found no weapon in Sanderson's car after the shooting Thursday night.

At the home of a relative of Sanderson's on E North Bay Street, where friends and family gathered Friday afternoon, a family member declined to comment.

Times staff writer Saundra Amrhein contributed to this report.

[Last modified May 21, 2005, 01:16:55]