Report of death threat ignored

After KFC restaurant employees say a white man threatened to kill a black manager, Largo police fail to investigate.

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 31, 2001

LARGO -- Despite a call from terrified employees, Largo police failed Saturday to investigate a man who allegedly threatened to kill the black manager of a KFC restaurant.

It marked the third day within the past week the man had made racist comments about African-Americans, according to store employees.

Each time Largo police were summoned to the Walsingham Road restaurant, employees gave officers detailed descriptions of the man and his car.

But a police report was never filled out, and an investigation was not launched until the St. Petersburg Times made inquiries Monday.

The captain of the department's patrol unit said he remains unsure whether a crime was committed. He said the man -- whom he would not identify -- has a criminal record and a history of offensive behavior.

"The guy is just obnoxious," Capt. John Carroll said. "He doesn't care which race, creed or color you are. He's going to be obnoxious to you."

Dorothea Beane, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Stetson University College of Law, said police should have investigated Saturday's encounter immediately.

"These types of incidents should be reported as soon as possible," she said. "It's important because you don't know what type of individual this is. Making threats is a dangerous activity, and there are statutes that criminalize making the threat."

The woman whose life was threatened was stunned by the department's slow response.

"The thing that frustrates me is they seemed like they didn't care," said manager Brenda Daniels, who has worked for KFC for 17 years.

Lisa Andersen was working the take-out window of the restaurant at 13677 Walsingham Road on Tuesday evening when a balding, middle-aged white man drove up.

"You know those black people, you shouldn't be serving those people," Andersen, who is white, said the man had told her. "They should be killed."

A co-worker told Andersen to close the window as the man continued to spew derogatory remarks. Frightened, employees called police.

"I looked into his eyes, and he was full of hatred," said Andersen, 17.

An officer arrived and was given a description of the man and his license plate number, employees said. The officer told the workers that because the man did not threaten anyone specifically, there was not much he could do, police said.

"He didn't believe he could take immediate action," said Largo police spokesman Mac McMullen.

Becki Dacier, another manager at the restaurant, said that on Friday the man returned to the take-out window and told another employee that if she saw any "n-----s" that she should kill them.

Again, police were called. Again, the man was gone when an officer arrived. Again, no report was filed. Police stress, though, that each call was logged into the department's dispatch computers.

Carroll suggested that the man could have been charged with disorderly conduct if an officer had witnessed the comments. "If the person is gone and there was no actual crime committed, then you are not going to write a report," the captain said.

Daniels, one of the store managers, was unaware of the threats until she arrived at work Saturday.

That evening, the man drove back and forth between a Taco Bell and a Burger King at the same intersection, employees said. At about 10 p.m., as Daniels prepared to leave, a co-worker stopped the woman, relating remarks he had heard the man make earlier that evening.

"You see that n----- manager, when she leaves, I'm going to kill her," the man said, according to Daniels.

Police were summoned a third time. Unable to find the man, an officer escorted Daniels to her car. Neither a description of the man nor his car was broadcast to other officers. "Clearly, it's our duty to make people feel safe," McMullen said. "Because we had multiple officers who handled it, we might have missed the boat on it."

-- Staff writer Eric Stirgus can be reached at (727) 445-4174 or stirgus@sptimes.com.

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