Despite a virtual information blackout at the Key West Police Department, Key West The Newspaper has learned that as many as a dozen police officers may have received notices this week of internal affairs hearings. These hearings will determine if they will be disciplined in the wake of the shootout on Front Street and the subsequent high-speed chase across the island last July.
The notices were distributed just a day after Police Chief Buz Dillon reportedly met with all the officers involved in the shootout/chase and told them, "It's no big deal; we'll treat it as a learning experience."
Seven weeks after the incident, Dillon has yet to issue a public statement concerning what really happened that night— and he has threatened to discipline any officer who leaks information to the press. But, KWTN has been able to determine that at least a dozen officers were involved in the bizarre shootout and chase— and that many or all of them may be facing disciplinary action.
• Just before midnight on Sunday, July 22, Officer E.J. Cuneo stopped a couple in a pickup truck for careless driving on Duval at Front Streets. When Cuneo asked for identification, the driver sped away. Cuneo radioed for assistance.
• Officers Donny Lee and Joe Arbie spotted the pickup on Eaton at Margaret. The officers activated their lights and sirens, but the pickup continued to flee.
Officers finally "trapped" the truck in the A&B Lobster House parking lot at the eastern end of Front Street. By this time, the officers knew that the pickup had been stolen at knifepoint in West Palm Beach. Officers used their patrol cars to block the street. But the pickup sped out of the parking lot and crashed through the blockade.
• Officer Dave Black had to swerve his patrol car to avoid a collision. Officer Ron Ramsey was in the passenger seat of Black's car.
• The pickup smashed into Eric Biskup's patrol car, pushing it 15-20 feet.
• Officer Kevin O'Connell quickly moved his patrol car to avoid a collision with the truck and Biskup's car.
• Officer Blair Lowe, standing in the street, leaped out of the way to avoid being run down. The pickup struck Lowe's unoccupied patrol car as it sped toward Duval Street.
• Officers Biskup, Lee and O'Connell reportedly fired at least eight shots at the fleeing pickup. In an early police report sent to City Commissioners, Dillon reported that the man in the pickup truck had a gun and was firing at officers— and that they were simply returning fire— but that story has now been abandoned. (See related story on page 1.)
• A high-speed chase across the island then ensued. At least nine patrol cars were reportedly involved, lights flashing and sirens blaring. One of the chasers was reportedly Officer Biskup. Although one of his tires had been flattened in the collision with the pickup, he continued to participate in the chase on a bare rim, spewing sparks and pieces of pavement all along the way.
• The chase ended on US1 at Junior College Road after the driver of the pickup lost control and collided with a utility pole.
• The man in the pickup resisted arrest. Three officers were involved in pulling him out of the pickup and handcuffing him. Officer Mark Tolleson was kicked in the stomach. The man's female companion was arrested without incident.
• Det. Beuth was also involved in the arrest. Officer J.R. Torres interviewed the suspects. Officer Winterbottom was the transporting officer.
At presstime, specific information about which officers might be scheduled for IA hearings was not available, but it is known that charges range from wrongful discharge of firearms to improper chase procedures. If charges against the officers are sustained, disciplinary action will reportedly range from suspensions of one to three days.
Stay tuned. KWTN is the only newspaper covering this story.