Deputies shoot man after long standoff

Officials say the former firefighter pointed a gun at deputies when they fired and killed him.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE, Times Staff Writer
Published July 18, 2007

RIVERVIEW - The call crackled over the Sheriff's Office radio.

A man in a straw hat, rifle slung over his arm, headed down Lovers Lane.

Years before, William Joe Best had worked as a firefighter in Sarasota, raised a daughter and lived comfortably.

Best, 45, died early Tuesday morning, shot by law enforcement officials who say he barricaded himself in a mobile home, then came out with a gun pointed at deputies.

Best shared the home with fiancee Tracy Sherwood and another man.

Retired and disabled, Best needed a hip replacement and struggled with his health, said his fiance's sister, Debbie Parrott of Venice.

"He just had some problems, drinking, a little bit," she said.

The first sign of trouble Monday was a call at 8:11 p.m. to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office. The caller reported a man with a gun at Lovers Lane and Big Bend Road.

When a deputy tried to talk to him, Best pointed a gun at the deputy, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter. More deputies soon arrived, and Best went into his mobile home at 12804 Lovers Lane.

He was alone inside the home, but his fiance and his daughter, Nikki Best, a time share saleswoman in Orlando, eventually came to the scene, Parrott said.

The situation continued to get worse. Deputies learned Best had been drinking most of the day and had a store of handguns and a shotgun inside the home, Carter said.

The SWAT members arrived by 9 p.m., and negotiators got on the phone with Best in a conversation that lasted into the early morning.

At one point, he shot out a back window, though no one was injured.

After several hours, deputies told him they would shoot pepper spray into the home. As the gas filled the mobile home and SWAT members went inside, Best slipped through the floor of the mobile home and into the yard, Carter said.

Armed with a shotgun, he crawled toward deputies, she said. Two SWAT members demanded he drop the shotgun. Instead, Best raised the gun, and the deputies fired, fatally shooting him, said Carter.

He died at the scene.

Two deputies - Janak Amin, 38, and Rick Johnson, 40 - have been placed on paid administrative leave pending a review of the incident. Amin has worked for the Sheriff's Office for 8 years, Johnson for 14.

Before Best moved to Lovers Lane, he lived in Englewood in Sarasota County, Parrott said. From 1989 to 1991, he was a firefighter in Sarasota. He resigned at the end of January 1991, days after he was suspended for attendance problems, records show.

Sarasota fire Chief Kevin Dillon remembered working with Best.

"He was a good fireman," Dillon said.

Best has been arrested five times, state records show, including a January 1991 arrest on charges of selling dangerous drugs. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to a year of probation.

Best's family believes he was trying to turn himself in after the Monday night standoff, not harm deputies, Parrott said.

"He was trying to surrender, and they just shot him," she said. "His own flesh and blood had to watch it."

As Parrott stood in Best's front yard, Tuesday, she fielded calls from his family and friends. Best's dog, a yellow lab named Snoop, stared up at her from the sandy yard.

When Best's daughter called to say she was on her way to identify his body, Parrott broke down, shoulders shaking.

"He was a good man," she said. "He didn't deserve this."

News researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 813 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 18, 2007, 06:51:44]