A stolen weapon, and a girlfriend's call for help

The gun used to killed Sgt. Ron Harrison is in another investigation.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO, Times Staff Writer
Published August 17, 2007

TAMPA -The bullet that killed a Hillsborough County sheriff's sergeant Wednesday was fired from a .45-caliber pistol stolen in another county, investigators say.

Sgt. Ron Harrison, 55, the head of the Sheriff's Office DUI unit, died around 1 a.m. Wednesday at the hands of a man detectives say surrounded himself with stolen goods.

Investigators' search of Michael A. Phillips' home at 1707 Village Court in Brandon also found numerous pages of handwritten "ramblings" expressing racist sentiments and an extreme hatred toward law enforcement, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said Thursday.

Deputies seized a large amount of stolen property, including stereo equipment, DVD players, a television, camera, jewelry, miscellaneous collectible coins and stamps, and $800 in cash.

Phillips died at 3:46 a.m. after a standoff outside his Brandon home. He holed up for hours inside after what deputies believe was an ambush attack on Harrison.

Phillips had been in and out of jail half his life, according to records.

After Wednesday's shooting, Phillips called his girlfriend, Rosa Marie Bradley, 21, to tell her that he had "shot a cop three times," according to 911 tapes released Thursday.

Bradley, 21, first alerted deputies about Phillips by saying she was calling anonymously to report that her neighbor was on his front lawn shooting a handgun in the air.

But when the operator called her back a short time later, Bradley confessed that she was the man's girlfriend and she had been calling from another neighborhood.

"I'm going to be honest with you, ma'am," she says finally. "I am his girlfriend, and he's calling me and shooting that gun off and threatening me and I don't want to be involved. ... I think he's drunk and he's doing crazy stuff."

Carter said the Sheriff's Office is not releasing details about the origins of the stolen murder weapon because it is part of an ongoing investigation in another county.

Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com or 813 226-3383.

[Last modified August 16, 2007, 22:58:15]