offi cer down: Overwhelming Physical Force: The Carl Everett/Linda Mason Incident
As unpleasant as it may be to critique the actions of fellow offi cers who have been injured or killed in the line of duty, it is even more distasteful to see their blood shed in vain, to deny others the lessons we can learn from their sacrifi ces. The purpose of this column is not to criticize, but to learn from the mistakes and triumphs of those who have faced lethal violence fi rsthand. With this in mind, this column is dedicated to the offi cers whose stories are told here, and to all our fellow offi cers who have been killed and injured in unselfi sh service to their communities.
DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT with
in fi eld training. Her department, a large suburban agency near a major northern city, did not have a formal FTO program at the time; instead, rookies rode with various veteran offi cers during fi eld training, and tonight she was riding with Carl Everett. Offi cer Everett, 32, was a fi ve-year veteran of the department. Just minutes after leaving roll call, they got their fi rst call, vandalism at a fast food restaurant near the outskirts of town. T e dispatcher added that the suspect had thrown a rock through one of the restau- rant windows. T e restaurant was already closed for the night, but the evening crew was still cleaning up inside when Everett and Mason arrived. T e offi cers stepped from the cruiser, hunched their shoulders against the bitter night air, and walked up to the front door. Someone inside unlocked the door and let them in. As the offi cers stepped into the warm in- terior, one of the employees pointed to the drive-up window. T e glass was shattered, and the metal counter inside was bent. Several of the employees explained that the suspect had walked up to the drive-up window from a nearby motel and asked for something to eat. When he was told that the restaurant was closed, he became irri- tated and demanded some of the food still in the bins, but the clerk tried to explain that it was stale and could not be sold. T e
O
fficer Linda Mason, just 19 years old
only three months on the job, was still
man’s irritation instantly exploded into rage. He walked over to a nearby fl ower garden, picked up a large rock, and hurled it through the window. T e manager wanted to sign a complaint, so Everett started to take the report. T e manager described the suspect as a stocky white male, about 40, with white hair and beard, and wearing a sweat suit. Probably some middle-aged overweight derelict, Ev- erett thought; some goof ball.
Everett asked for a vehicle description, but the witnesses all agreed that the suspect had been on foot. Everett wondered why no one had followed him, and he put the ques- tion to the employees. T ey all shrugged, and then one spoke up. “Are you kidding?” he exclaimed, “a guy that size?” Everett, hoping to wrap this up quickly, requested another offi cer to check the motel for the suspect. By the time Everett fi nished taking the report, the other offi cer had al- ready returned to service after checking the motel without any luck.
After leaving the restaurant, Everett and Mason checked out a second motel across the street from the fi rst one. Having no luck there, they re-crossed the street and went into the lobby of the fi rst motel, leav- ing their nightsticks behind in the car (their agency didn’t issue collapsible batons at that time). Why bother? T ey weren’t expecting any trouble, intending only to identify the suspect so they could apply for a warrant. T e clerk listened to the suspect’s de- scription, paused, and then commented that it sounded like one of the guests at the motel. She pulled the registration card
and showed it to them. T ough unfamil- iar to either offi cer, the person named on the card, Glenn Roper, was a well-known professional wrestler who was in town with his partner, Choi Kon, after completing a match in another town about 25 miles away. T e two wrestlers had just experi- enced a frustrating change in plans; instead of returning home as expected, they had been told to fl y to another city the next day for another match. T e disruption in their schedule had left them without a change of clothes or other necessities for the trip, and they weren’t happy. T ey had also been drinking, which hadn’t done anything to improve their moods. T e clerk mentioned that she thought Roper and a heavy-set Hispanic man (later determined to be Choi, who was actually Asian) were in the bar. Everett and Mason immediately headed into the bar, hoping to locate and identify their suspect quickly so they could get the information they needed and get back on the street. No luck. As the offi cers stepped out of the bar, they heard a door close about 100 feet down the hall. T ey looked toward the sound and saw a very large gray-haired man with a beard, clad in a sweat suit, in the hallway just outside one of the rooms. T ere was little doubt that this was the man they were looking for. T ey headed toward him, but he saw them coming. Turning quickly, he unlocked the door to a nearby room, ducked inside, and closed the door behind him. T ey quickly reached the spot where the man had been, but there were two doors there, side-by-side. Had he gone into 143 or 145? T ey couldn’t be sure, so Ever- ett knocked on the door to room 143. T ere was no response from that room, but the door to 145 came open. Standing just inside the door was a bulky man who appeared to be Hispanic. T ough about Ev- erett’s height, he had a massive barrel stom- ach and looked to be about 250 pounds. He was wearing a green T-shirt and black briefs. Written across the front of the shirt in bold letters were the initials “AWA” and the name of a well-known pro wrestler. Ev- erett recognized the wrestler’s name as well as the initials for the American Wrestling
63 The Police Marksman Summer 2015
www.policemarksman.com
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