Tampabay: Neighbors: Suspect nice, but temper could flare

Neighbors: Suspect nice, but temper could flare

By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD, GRAHAM BRINK and LINDA GIBSON

TAMPA -- Before he became the murderer of a police officer Friday, most neighbors at the Crossings apartments knew Nester L. DeJesus as the quiet, friendly young man in Apt. 120.

He lived there with a girlfriend and a baby daughter, they said, and liked to scrub and polish his yellow Nissan Xterra SUV until the dashboard sparkled and the tires gleamed.

But some perceived a darker side in the 25-year-old who went by the nickname "Chino."

"He always seemed to try to come across as casual, but you could tell he was pretty wound up," said Bruce Cochrane, who often visited friends at the apartments and exchanged hellos with DeJesus.

Several months ago, DeJesus went "ballistic" when he saw another resident slightly bump his Xterra with an opened car door, said Dan Matheny, who lives at the Crossings.

DeJesus got in the guy's face, yelling insults, Matheny said, but the other man calmed DeJesus down before it came to blows. "That was typical behavior," Matheny said. "He could go off on people really easily."

Matheny said he sometimes had conversations with DeJesus about politics, current events and the environment. While DeJesus seemed like "a pretty good guy," something didn't seem "right in the head," Matheny said.

Matheny, who works as an organizer for the Sierra Club, said he talked with DeJesus about his job. DeJesus talked of violence.

He once told Matheny that to make a real difference improving environmental policy, "You'd have to kill all the politicians and start fresh."

"He sounded like he really meant it," Matheny said. "He said those types of things a lot."

Still, Matheny said he would not have predicted the level of violence displayed Friday. "Wow, this is serious," Matheny said.

DeJesus had a criminal record. In April 1995, at the age of 18, DeJesus was charged with trespassing at Adventure Island after being given a warning to leave.

Four months later, DeJesus was charged with petty theft after trying to walk out of the WestShore Plaza Burdines with $123 worth of Tommy Hilfiger clothing stuffed down his pants. On that charge, DeJesus pleaded guilty and received six months' probation, which he was later charged with violating.

DeJesus was charged with aggravated battery in December 1995, though the charge was dropped. No details were available Friday.

Records show that DeJesus worked as a porter, a tire technician and a 7-Eleven clerk.

Michael Debacker, 50, a computer trainer who lived in the apartment above DeJesus' apartment, said he was "shocked and dumbfounded" by the shooting, describing DeJesus as "very nice, very cordial."

Debacker said DeJesus' mother worked at the complex as a maintenance worker. He said DeJesus had been staying at the apartment about five months and was not the type to party or make a lot of noise.

"He spent a lot of time with his girlfriend and his daughter," Debacker said. "What's so shocking to me is he's got a live-in girlfriend and a gorgeous little baby girl. You'd think he'd have everything in the world going for him."

-- Times researcher John Martin and Times editorial assistant Amy Abbott contributed to this report.