STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE CLEARS OFFICERS

The Report Says They Were Justified In The Use Of Deadly Force.

BARTOW -- Four Lakeland police officers who shot a fleeing robber to death
Dec. 16 were justified in their use of deadly force, the State Attorney's
Office concluded Tuesday.

Robert Wesley Laird III, 21, was full of methamphetamines, commonly known as
crank, "in near-lethal amounts," when he was killed by police, said Dr.
Stephen Nelson, the medical examiner for Polk County.

Four officers fired 43 rounds of .45-caliber bullets, hitting Laird seven
times and hitting four mobile homes a total of 29 times. Prosecutors Tuesday
publicly identified the officers for the first time as Ron Bowling Jr., Ed
Cain, Richard Kachadurian and David Woolverton.

They were placed on desk duty until about a week ago.

They returned to their regular jobs after prosecutors informally indicated
they would find the shooting to be justified, LPD Chief Sam V. Baca said.

Investigators found that Laird of Tampa robbed a McDonald's restaurant on
U.S. 98 North in Lakeland with a handgun stolen from his father. He then
drove west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 4 in a Chevrolet Cavalier,
ditched the car and ran into the Elim Mobile Home Park, which abuts I-4. He
was chased by several Lakeland police officers.

"Eventually, Officer Cane's K-9 caught up with Mr. Laird and attempted to
subdue him," a letter dated Tuesday from State Attorney Jerry Hill to Baca
said. "Once the K-9 got a grip on Mr. Laird he produced a handgun and
pointed it in the direction of the pursuing officers."

Laird never fired his gun, Sheriff's Maj. Gary Hester said.

Hester said Laird ran 70 feet after he was first shot. Some of the officers
reloaded their clips during the shooting, he said.

The Sheriff's Office investigated the shooting because it took place in
unincorporated Polk County, just west of the Lakeland city limits.

Baca said it was unfortunate that so many shots went into the mobile homes.

"The officers were trying to stop a threat," Baca said.

If they had ignored such a threat, he said, "how would we explain if an
innocent person was killed" by Laird? Baca said it was easy for "Monday
morning quarterbacks" to second-guess the number of shots fired or police
marksmanship. He said the night was dark and an armed man was darting
around.

Hester said Laird was a serious threat who had robbed businesses in
Hillsborough County in the weeks before he died. He wore a glove with its
trigger finger cut off.

Laird had been staying at the Royalty Inn on U.S. 98 North in Lakeland,
Hester said.

On Dec. 20, Elim Mobile Home Park resident Martin Silver, 70, told The
Ledger that he saw the shooting and that Laird was begging for mercy when
police fired at him.

Maj. Hester said that Silver was interviewed by detectives as part of the
Sheriff Office's review, and that Silver swore he saw nothing. "He lied to
the media," Hester said. "He took cover in his bathroom" and saw nothing.

Silver, a retired U.S. Army sergeant, declined to comment Tuesday night.

Nelson, the medical examiner, said Laird's autopsy was not finished because
pathologists just received the results of toxicology tests that showed
extremely high levels of methamphetamines in Laird's body when he died. The
autopsy should be finished this week, Nelson said.

Robert W. Laird Jr., the father of the man who was shot, could not be
reached to comment. He has been critical of the police shooting, saying
police overreacted.

Now that the State Attorney's Office has finished its review of the shooting
and determined that no criminal charges will be filed, Baca said the Police
Department will do it's own internal investigation. That review will examine
whether any police policy was breached and whether any policies need to be
changed.

Hill, at the end of his letter to Baca, said he had received "several
complaints about the number of shots fired" into the mobile homes,
endangering innocent people.

"While I am in no position to judge the tactics of your officers in a
residential area," Hill wrote, "I did want you to be aware of these public
concerns" as you conduct internal and policy reviews.

The city of Lakeland's insurance is paying for the damage to the mobile
homes.