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Posted: 12/29/2005 3:04:51 PM EDT
Off-Duty Florida Deputy Fires On Man
JACOB H. FRIES
St. Petersburg Times



An off-duty Pinellas sheriff's deputy intervened in a domestic dispute Friday morning, firing one shot at a man attacking his girlfriend, the Sheriff's Office said.

The officer fired as the man ran from a parking area and toward the woman's apartment.

The officer's bullet missed the man, ricocheted and struck an entertainment center in the apartment, sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said.

As policy, Deputy Nicholas M. Bedy, 26, will be placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. He declined to comment.

The incident unfolded at 4:11 a.m. when Bedy awoke to the disturbance at 13051 Thoroughbred Loop, not far from the deputy's home, McMullen said. He grabbed a handgun, a Glock 26, and went to investigate, he said.

Bedy saw Frank Hoffmeister, 31, attacking Kathy Lynn Irgens, 26, in the parking area of the Cumberland Trace condominium complex off Ulmerton Road and went to help, McMullen said.

"She had numerous bruises and at one point, he had his hands around her neck," he said.

Bedy showed his badge, but Hoffmeister ran for Irgens' apartment, where she had just fled.

Bedy fired one shot, fearing Hoffmeister intended to continue assaulting Irgens, McMullen said. Hoffmeister ran for a car, but Bedy then took him into custody on charges of burglary and domestic battery.

Hoffmeister was being held without bail Friday at the Pinellas County Jail.

In 2000, Bedy, then a rookie officer with St. Petersburg police, resigned after being accused of using excessive force.

During a struggle with a car theft suspect, Bedy punched the man several times in the chest while two other officers were holding the man.

Police supervisors substantiated the allegations and said he would have been fired if he hadn't quit.

Link Posted: 12/29/2005 3:27:57 PM EDT
[#1]
Oh man, he didn't hit the perp!
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 3:32:41 PM EDT
[#2]
How does an LEO get a job at another department after resigning under pressure at the first one?
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 3:33:41 PM EDT
[#3]

Quoted:
How does an LEO get a job at another department after resigning under pressure at the first one?



Around here, he wouldnt.  In some parts of country that type of job shopping is common.
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 3:39:23 PM EDT
[#4]

Quoted: Around here, he wouldnt.  In some parts of country that type of job shopping is common.
Police departments are hiring like crazy. Communities are enlarging, the economy is growing, that means the police force has to grow too. All he did was punch a car thief suspect. It's no big deal, the perp probably deserved it anyway.
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 3:49:38 PM EDT
[#5]
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 3:54:25 PM EDT
[#6]
sounds like a clean shoot to me. The perp was stranging the victim. He just needs to practice more so he hits him next time.
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 3:57:13 PM EDT
[#7]

Quoted:
sounds like a clean shoot to me. The perp was stranging the victim. He just needs to practice more so he hits him next time.




The officer fired as the man ran from a parking area and toward the woman's apartment.



ETA I wasnt there so cant say for sure, but this one doesnt sound so clean cut. Unarmed Man...Back.....Etc.
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 3:59:46 PM EDT
[#8]

Quoted:
How does an LEO get a job at another department after resigning under pressure at the first one?



The agency he resigned from fires guys for using 'harsh' language, if someone complains.  
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 4:02:58 PM EDT
[#9]

Quoted:

Quoted:
How does an LEO get a job at another department after resigning under pressure at the first one?



Around here, he wouldnt.  In some parts of country that type of job shopping is common.



It's not necessarily job shopping. If he was a rookie, he was probably on probation, which means he was an at-will employee. It is common for agencies to offer probationary employees a "quit or be fired" option during their probationary period, and to do so on the very slightest provocation. It may be that he did nothing at all wrong, but had the misfortune to do something that would never get a non-probationary employee fired or even disciplined at a time when he had no civil service or contractual protection.
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 4:04:36 PM EDT
[#10]

Quoted:

Quoted:
sounds like a clean shoot to me. The perp was stranging the victim. He just needs to practice more so he hits him next time.




The officer fired as the man ran from a parking area and toward the woman's apartment.



ETA I wasnt there so cant say for sure, but this one doesnt sound so clean cut. Unarmed Man...Back.....Etc.



Or violent perp. . .burglary. . .et c. YMMV. It's not clear (to me, anyway) whether the V was in the apartment that the BG ran toward.
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 4:12:53 PM EDT
[#11]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Quoted:
sounds like a clean shoot to me. The perp was stranging the victim. He just needs to practice more so he hits him next time.




The officer fired as the man ran from a parking area and toward the woman's apartment.



ETA I wasnt there so cant say for sure, but this one doesnt sound so clean cut. Unarmed Man...Back.....Etc.



Or violent perp. . .burglary. . .et c. YMMV. It's not clear (to me, anyway) whether the V was in the apartment that the BG ran toward.



I dont know, and am sure you know alot more about these matters than I do.
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 4:22:53 PM EDT
[#12]
We bitch if the police do too little, and we bitch if they do too much.  
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 4:34:55 PM EDT
[#13]

Quoted:
How does an LEO get a job at another department after resigning under pressure at the first one?



Because depts know that some Florida LE agencies are corrupt and officers are sometimes fired for bullshit reasons. Sheriffs Offices are the worst about this.
Officers are often given a second chance based on a review of the circumstances of their leaving the other dept.


If you only new how corrupt my sheriff was you'd understand.
Link Posted: 12/29/2005 4:37:34 PM EDT
[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
How does an LEO get a job at another department after resigning under pressure at the first one?



Because depts know that some Florida LE agencies are corrupt and officers are sometimes fired for bullshit reasons. Sheriffs Offices are the worst about this.
Officers are often given a second chance based on a review of the circumstances of their leaving the other dept.


If you only new how corrupt my sheriff was you'd understand.



+1. Woe to you if your number comes up during "Bugger a Patrolman Week."
Link Posted: 1/1/2006 1:24:56 PM EDT
[#15]

Quoted:

Quoted:
sounds like a clean shoot to me. The perp was stranging the victim. He just needs to practice more so he hits him next time.




The officer fired as the man ran from a parking area and toward the woman's apartment.






And the round missed and ended up in her apartment.
Link Posted: 1/1/2006 2:17:24 PM EDT
[#16]

Quoted:

Quoted:
How does an LEO get a job at another department after resigning under pressure at the first one?



Because depts know that some Florida LE agencies are corrupt and officers are sometimes fired for bullshit reasons. Sheriffs Offices are the worst about this.
Officers are often given a second chance based on a review of the circumstances of their leaving the other dept.


If you only new how corrupt my sheriff was you'd understand.

Lemme guess . Manatee County?
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