BOARD: OFFICER'S ACTIONS IN COMPLIANCE WITH POLICIES
PATROL OFFICER LEFT NO OPTION OTHER THAN 'DEADLY FORCE'

A Clearwater Police Department Patrol Officer reacted properly when he shot an armed man advancing on him in a threatening manner, a department Shooting Review Board concluded. The man, shot once in the chest and once in the pelvis, later died of his injuries.

Officer Michael Stonelake, an 11-year veteran of the Clearwater Police Department, was left no option other than to shoot the 41-year-old man, who was armed with a 9 ¼-inch screwdriver during an April 13th predawn encounter in the darkened driveway of a Clearwater apartment house.

An autopsy revealed that Larry L. Nelson (10-01-59), of 1000 Pine Street, had a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of .26 at the time of his death. A BAC of .08 is the level at which a person is presumed intoxicated under Florida law. The autopsy also indicated the presence of cocaine in Nelson's blood.

Officer Stonelake, who was placed on paid Administrative Leave in accordance with department policies immediately after the April 13th event, will return to his assignment as a uniformed Patrol Officer on the Community Problem Response Team.

The Shooting Board, comprised of the department's Command Staff and detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) and the Office of Professional Standards (Internal Affairs), examined the findings of two independent investigations. CID investigators looked into the legality of the shooting, and Internal Affairs investigators examined Officer Stonelake's actions to see if they complied with department Policies and Procedures.

Both investigations concluded that Officer Stonelake's actions were in accordance with state and department guidelines; that the Officer found himself in imminent danger; and that the shooting was justifiable.

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, which conducted its own investigation of the event, ruled this afternoon that Officer Stonelake was justified in using Deadly Force in the April 13th encounter with Nelson.

According to the Shooting Review Board's findings:

Larry Nelson, a Clearwater construction worker, spent the evening of Thursday, April 12th drinking beer with acquaintances. Just after midnight, Nelson and a friend drove to 808 Druid Road, where a female friend of Nelson's resides. Nelson parked his blue Mercury Sable – leaving in the car a man he had met just hours before – and walked toward Apartment 3.

Shortly thereafter, at 12:12 a.m., a resident of the apartments called Police to report that a drunk, loud and abrasive man was outside the apartments and bothering residents. The caller asked Police to respond to the small complex and get the man - described as a black male wearing a white T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes - to leave.

Officer Stonelake, accompanied by Officer Christian Zarra, was leaving the island of Clearwater Beach on his way to a meal break when he was dispatched at 12:26 a.m. to the Druid Road apartments. At 12:29 a.m., Officer Stonelake and Officer Zarra pulled up to the apartments, at the same time as - and just behind - the cruiser of their supervisor, Sergeant Mark Trulock.

As Sergeant Trulock spoke with the man in Nelson's car, Officer Stonelake spotted a man wearing a white T-shirt and shorts well back in the darkness of a common driveway through the apartments. The man, walking toward the street, suddenly turned around and walked up to the front of Apartment 3, and commenced banging on the door.

As Officer Stonelake walked northward on the driveway, the man at the door turned and – according to witnesses – made several threatening statements. The woman in Apartment 3, a friend of Nelson's who refused to open the door while he was pounding on it, told Clearwater detectives the man said "I don't (care) if you're a police officer or not … you('re) gonna get stabbed."

Officer Stonelake illuminated the man - later identified as Nelson - with his flashlight as the man began walking toward him menacingly. It was then that Officer Stonelake realized the man was holding what appeared to be a knife in a threatening manner. Officer Stonelake began backing away from the advancing Nelson.

At some point (he retreated about 70 feet during the encounter) Officer Stonelake discarded his flashlight and drew his department-issued Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun. Various witnesses told investigators they heard Officer Stonelake command Nelson several times to "Stop … stop!" and to "Drop it!"

Holding the screwdriver at shoulder level and continuing to advance on the Officer, Nelson ignored the repeated orders to stop. When Nelson got to within about 15 feet of him, Officer Stonelake fired five shots, striking Nelson twice.

One minute and 25 seconds had elapsed since the Officers arrived at the Druid Road complex. Sergeant Trulock immediately radioed for rescue personnel, who found Nelson hit once in the pelvis and once in the upper left chest. Nelson was treated at the scene by Clearwater Fire Department paramedics before being taken to Morton Plant Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:17 a.m.

Witnesses told investigators that Nelson seemed "mad" and "aggressive," and their versions of events were largely consistent with statements given by the Officers and the evidence at the scene.

The Police Department's Command Staff, after reviewing statements from various civilian witnesses; examining evidence and findings by the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's Office; and discussing the separate investigations by CID and Internal Affairs detectives, ruled that Officer Stonelake acted in accordance with all department guidelines, and that the shooting was a justifiable act on the part of a state-certified law enforcement officer.

This is the extent of information available regarding the findings of this Shooting Review Board. For additional details, please contact Public Information Officer Wayne Shelor at (727)-562-4333.

/s/
SID KLEIN
Chief of Police