Trooper shoots driver during traffic stop

The driver is shot in the hand. Officials say he ignored commands to show his hands, then moved suddenly.

By DEBORAH O'NEIL

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 12, 2001

LARGO -- A Florida Highway Patrol trooper shot a man in the hand early Monday during a traffic stop after the man reached for the floorboard and repeatedly ignored demands to show his hands, authorities said.

Richard Allen Wilder, 36, of Fort Plain, N.Y., was treated at Bayfront Medical Center for a minor gunshot wound, then booked into the Pinellas County Jail.

The incident happened shortly after 2 a.m. when Trooper Daniel Cole, along with auxiliary Trooper Howard Brockway, saw a 1987 Plymouth Voyager van heading west on Ulmerton Road west of 49th Street with a defective headlight.

Cole stopped the van in the left turn lane of Ulmerton Road and approached the driver's side, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Brockway approached the vehicle on the rear passenger side. Cole noticed Wilder looking down toward the floorboard and reaching for something. The trooper told him to show his hands. Wilder did not show his hands but continued to reach for something, the highway patrol said.

The trooper backed away from the van and drew his Beretta semiautomatic handgun, as did Brockway. Cole continued to order Wilder to show his hands. Wilder then "made a sudden and abrupt move with his hands toward Trooper Cole," according to FHP Lt. Mike Rushing.

Cole fired one shot, which struck Wilder's right hand. Authorities did not find a gun in Wilder's van, Rushing said.

"He had no weapon," Rushing said. "We don't know what he was doing. We just know he wasn't following directions and it was two in the morning."

Wilder was charged with failure to obey a lawful order and obstructing an officer. He left the jail Monday afternoon on a $500 bond.

Cole was placed on routine paid administrative leave while an investigation is conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and FHP. Cole, a two-year FHP veteran, had never been involved in a shooting, Rushing said. He was Pinellas County's 2000 Trooper of the Year.

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