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A fast fade, then he faded away

The man in the barber chair was more than a walk-in client. He was also on the run.

By ROBIN STEIN
Published February 2, 2007

CLEARWATER - Owens Dampier might still be a free man had he not caved to vanity.

For two months, the 33-year-old suspected of masterminding an attempted murder eluded police capture. Yesterday, Dampier got booked in Pinellas County Jail, certainly defeated but with a sharp-looking fade.

The search for Dampier began on a Saturday morning in early December when a Clearwater man standing in his driveway got hit by a spray of bullets fired from a black Ford Mustang driving by.

Willie J. Frazier, 31, survived, shot only in the leg by two rounds. Within a few days, Clearwater police arrested the suspected male shooter and the female driver, but could not find Dampier, the driver's boyfriend. The woman told police Dampier had sent them to kill Frazier.

Police had been trying to track down Dampier ever since - with little luck.

But the hunt took an abrupt turn Wednesday morning, when an off-duty Clearwater police officer went to get his regular trim at Chris & Company, a half-barber, half-beauty shop hidden in a brick-face strip mall at 1701 Drew St.

When Officer Shante Dean called the shop, he was told there was no wait if he came in right away.

But Dean was not quick enough, the barber, Vernon Small, 43, said in an interview Thursday in his shop.

Dean gave a snarky greeting when he arrived to find a walk-in client already in the barber's chair, his head bowed under the clippers, Small said.

"He said, 'Someone got my spot! What's up?' " Small said, adding that the man in the chair answered, "Yeah, what's up," without looking up.

Small said Dean suddenly paused, focusing in on the face of the man under the striped cape. The officer then quietly backpedaled toward the beauty salon-side of the shop, slipping outside through another door before Dampier lifted his head.

But the hairdresser working on two older women noticed Dean pull his gun from his holster.

Small said she popped her head around the corner, annoyed. "She said, 'Why your police friend taking his gun playing around like that here. I'm about ready to call the police on the police.' "

The word "police" got Dampier's attention, Small said. Sort of.

He cursed and said, "Hurry up and finish my hair so I can get out of here!"

Even without knowing what kind of trouble his client was in, Small said he was panicked.

"If he's wanted for attempted murder why is he here getting a fade," Small said.

"I can cut a fade in five minutes," Small said. "So it probably took me just two minutes to finish him up, that's all because I was so scared ... I was shaking like a leaf."

But it was only after his standard fade was fully trimmed that Dampier stood up, walked toward the door and peeked through the blinds to see the officer standing in the parking lot talking on his police radio, calling in for backup, Small said.

Scanning the room with a burst of urgency, Dampier asked where he could find the back door, Small said.

After a moment of hesitation, Small lied.

Dampier ultimately found the back door on his own and slipped out into an alley and jumped over a fence into a residential neighborhood.

But by then, backup had arrived, in force. A squad of officers, with machine guns and search dogs, cordoned off the area, and within a half hour, found Dampier. He was in a driveway half a block away, hiding in a black garbage bin.

Dampier was charged with felony possession of a firearm, aggravated assault with a firearm, attempted murder and resisting arrest. He was being held on $50,500 bail.

Dean, meanwhile, returned later that day, after he had booked Dampier and filed a report.

"I said, finally you are back - you ran away two haircuts from here!" Small said.

Small said he was hoping Dean would cover Dampier's tab.

But after the officer got a temple fade, he paid for the $11 cut, and added either $2 or $4 for a tip, Small couldn't remember.

Certainly respectable but not particularly memorable given the kind of day he had.

[Last modified February 1, 2007, 23:53:40]