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By BILLY TOWNSEND
The Tampa Tribune
LAKELAND - The shoulder-to-shoulder line of Central Florida SWAT officers, organized in closely linked teams of 10 or 11, stretched for hundreds of feet and slowly crept north toward Interstate 4.
Carrying MP5 submachine guns and other assault weapons, the officers hacked through vines and poked at every possible hiding place Friday in a dense patch of brush and woods that had become ground zero of the search for a man who killed a deputy.
Just after 9:30 a.m., one of the teams happened upon a large fallen oak tree. Dug in beneath it they found the man accused of ambushing and killing Deputy Matt Williams and his K-9 partner Diogi on Thursday.
“They were pretty much on top of him before they could see him,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.
In a flash, what probably was the most intensive manhunt in Polk County history reached its climax.
One officer, who hasn’t been identified, ordered the suspect to show his hands, Judd said. The suspect showed just one hand.
Then someone saw a gun in the other, and nine of 10 members of the team opened fire, killing the man in place with “numerous” shots, Judd said. It was less than 100 yards from where Williams and Diogi were killed.
The suspect had his right hand on Williams’ 45-caliber semiautomatic service handgun, investigators said.
About a half-mile away, at the command post near Kathleen High School, police radios began to crackle, and the news spread fast.
At one point Judd was heard on the radio saying, “Search is over. Suspect Signal Seven.” That’s police language for dead.
A cheer went up.
Within moments, Judd arrived to tell reporters, announcing, “God will be the judge and jury this time.”
2 Days, 2 Names
But who is the man upon whom the verdict was rendered?
The sheriff’s office provided a second possible identity for him in as many days.
Judd said detectives are certain that a man arrested in Polk County in 1999 under the name Angilo Freeland, 27, is the same man killed under the tree Friday.
They do not know if that’s the name on his birth certificate or the one he used most often. Angilo Freeland has ties to several Lakeland addresses, investigators said. None seems current.
A different name, Eswardo O. Ramclaim, was provided Thursday night - with warnings that it probably was bogus. It was the name the man gave Deputy Douglas Speirs when he stopped him for speeding at 10th Street and Wabash Avenue in north Lakeland.
Freeland was arrested in 1999 by the Florida Highway Patrol on charges that he had no driver’s license, fled from officers and had a concealed weapon.
The charges echo the circumstances of Thursday’s 11:45 a.m. traffic stop, from which Freeland bolted into a nearby wooded area.
By late afternoon Friday, crime scene technicians were working closely over Freeland’s body, which was to be sent to the medical examiner’s office. Judd said he expects a better identification to emerge.
In the meantime, Judd said, detectives are developing a picture of who Freeland was. They found no drugs in the rental car he was driving, but they think he has ties to a drug ring.
And Judd said two cell phones he dropped and a “book of associates” detectives found are providing a number of leads.
The Ambush
Judd provided more details Friday about what might have happened in the woods when Speirs, Williams and Diogi went in after Freeland as other deputies ringed the area.
It appears Williams and Diogi tracked Freeland almost too successfully and that the dense vegetation worked to their disadvantage.
“They had run him into an area so thick that he couldn’t move,” Judd said.
With nowhere left to run, Freeland holed up behind a tree in much the same fashion that he did Friday morning. And then he struck in what Judd called “an ambush.” Judd said Williams and Diogi were too good at their jobs to have been overcome by anything other than an ambush.
Detectives think Freeland used a 9 mm Taurus handgun to kill Williams and his dog. That gun also was found on Freeland after he was killed. Detectives still are not saying where Williams was hit, but they have said he was struck with several shots and likely died instantly.
Speirs was wounded in the leg shortly afterward in an exchange of fire, and the shooter fled.
Speirs was treated at a Lakeland hospital Thursday but not admitted. It wasn’t immediately clear which weapon Freeland used on Speirs or when he took Williams’ weapon.
However he did it, Freeland managed to kill a seasoned deputy and his highly trained K-9, take his gun and ammunition, wound another deputy and successfully elude capture in a fairly confined space for almost 24 hours.
It shows a capability of cool, tactical thinking, sheriff’s officials said.
“It makes you wonder,” said Gary Hester, sheriff’s office chief of staff, when asked whether detectives think Freeland might have received formal military training of some kind.
Hester said there is no evidence of that. But he said one source in the investigation says Freeland might have trained informally at a Lakeland gun range.
A Violent, Vital Confrontation
Judd said Friday that the key to getting Freeland was how quickly deputies and police officers sealed off both the wooded area and the wider swath of north Lakeland that remained locked down throughout the manhunt.
It helped that deputies were on scene backing up the search for Freeland when the shooting started.
Judd singled out the Lakeland Police Department for praise. He cited the agency’s quick arrival at Interstate 4, cutting Freeland’s access to the north.
He said two Lakeland police officers who exchanged gunfire with Freeland just after the deputies were shot might have staved off a worse crisis. They forced him back into the woods and away from an elderly couple’s home at 1446 Wabash Ave., the very northern end of the road.
“He would have got in there and hurt that couple and got himself a car,” Hester said.
On Friday, Paul Prebor, 76, the owner of the home, casually retold his brush with death and showed off bullet marks - one coming, one going - in the eaves of his outdoor laundry room and shed near the rear of his house.
Nearby, sheriff’s administrators picked up spent canisters of tear gas that still gave off enough odor to make eyes water. Officers had used them Thursday, thinking Freeland might have run from the gunfire into the house as Prebor and his wife fled.
The Prebors live several hundred yards north of the site of the traffic stop and even closer to the spot where Freeland was killed.
Paul Prebor said he didn’t hear the shooting of the deputies, but he quickly noticed the commotion that followed and came out to see what was going on. He saw officers with guns drawn telling him to go back inside, where his wife was, and lock his doors.
After a few moments informing neighbors, Prebor was preparing to go inside when Lakeland policeofficers Jeff Birdwell, a detective, and Jose Bosque pulled up.
They got out, Prebor said, and one asked a strange question: “Does that black man in your backyard have any reason to be there?”
‘He Was Tall’
Rather than answer, Prebor, who was facing away from his backyard, said he instinctively turned. He saw Freeland, gun drawn, run into the covered opening of the shed, step in front of a barbecue grill and open fire at him and the officers. They were standing about 75 yards away, near the street.
Prebor said he thinks Freeland fired twice and that the officers quickly fired twice in return. Lakeland police spokesman Jack Gillen, who identified the officers, said both got off rounds, but he did not know how many.
All the shots, from both sides, missed. Freeland bolted back into the Prebors’ backyard. Prebor rushed to retrieve his wife, who was in the kitchen behind an open window, and take her across the street to a neighbor’s home.
Prebor said he saw Freeland for about three seconds.
“It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to be scared. I’m not that emotional about things,” he said.
His impression of Freeland? “I thought he was tall.”
That’s accurate. Freeland’s Polk arrest record lists him at 6-foot-2. At least one of his bullets struck the inside eave of the shed on its way out, splintering wood and perhaps altering the path of the bullet.
Though officers weren’t able to nab or kill Freeland there, they managed to push him away from the area where he might most easily have found hostages and likely back into the brush, sheriff’s officials said.
“We felt confident that he hadn’t gotten out of there,” Hester said. “We felt he was pinned down.”
They were confident enough that Thursday night the SWAT leaders from the various agencies on scene began to plan the meticulous search of the woods that would find Freeland on Friday morning.
They would find and kill him within sight of Prebor’s home.
Editor Dave Nicholson contributed to this report. Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.
UNFOLDING EVENTS
Thursday
11:45 a.m.: Deputy Douglas Speirs pulls over a driver for speeding at 10th Street and Wabash Avenue. The driver runs into dense woods northwest of the traffic stop scene. Backup deputies arrive to surround the area. After several minutes, Speirs, Deputy Vernon Matthew “Matt” Williams and his dog partner, Diogi, go into the woods.
12:30 p.m.: The driver fires at the deputies, killing Williams and Diogi. Speirs is wounded in the leg. The shooter flees.
About 1 p.m.: As deputies and police begin swarming the area, the man is seen in the backyard of a home at 1446 N. Wabash. He exchanges fire with two Lakeland police officers. No one is hit. The man disappears again.
4 p.m.: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announces Williams and Diogi are dead. A massive manhunt spreads across much of north Lakeland.
About 7 p.m.: Students from nearby Kathleen High School are taken by bus, under armed guard, to a north Lakeland church, where parents finally are allowed to pick them up.
9 p.m.: Judd gives his final briefing of the night and warns, “We’re prepared for a gunfight if he wants a gunfight.”
Friday
9:35 a.m.: A patrol of SWAT officers walking shoulder to shoulder near the scene of the shootings happens upon the driver, who had buried himself beneath a fallen tree overgrown with brush. The man raises only one hand. The officers, seeing a gun, open fire, killing the man. Moments later a cheer is heard at the law enforcement command center near Kathleen High.
9:50 a.m.: Judd announces suspect is dead. He was carrying a .45-caliber handgun thought to be Williams’ service weapon.
I’m thankfull for our police officers. They don’t get paid enough for the job they do, and that number one job is to protect and serve. They put there lives on the line every time they leave the safety of there home and family. I can not believe some people feel the need to bring color into this. Polk county has some very wonderfull colored officers of whom I’m sure were right along side the white officers in the search for this monster who could have been responsibe for suppling drugs to our children. Thank God he was prevented from doing that. Thank you Polk County Sheriffs Department and all the other counties that helped.
To Brandy Clark, Plant City and anyone like her:
I agree with you that there were officers of every race. You are absolutely right there.
But I do take issue when you say something like, “if you don’t like how we do things in our state or our country, stay out!” because in fact, no one is a TRUE Floridian or American unless they are of Native American descent. We are all immigrants, even those of us from the Caucasian Mountains.
Thus, it is sad to hear people like you blindly saying things like this without thoroughly delving into our past to find out the FALLACIOUSNESS of words like your own.
Too bad we have to inject race into this.
It’s really about right vs wrong.
I want all thugs and criminals like this dead, I don’t care what color they are.
Please quit making excuses for this loser he deserved much worse.
Kevin Smallwood, the police did ask questions first - before the guy ran, then killed. He chose his fate - he could have been honest with the cops and given his true name and faced up to the consequences of his past, but he didn’t - he chose to do the things he did - and he paid the price. It’s easy for people to sit back in judgment, safe in their environments, knowing that if evil knocks on their door, that brave police officer, police dog, or SWAT member would lay down their lives to save yours. Doubt the officers or SWAT team’s actions? Join the force, put your life on the line, then let’s hear what you have to say.
I love reading the comments from TBO reader,you really get the feel for the race relationship among Bay area communities. Like it or not, base on comment on this website, in my opinion there is obviously a race issue here in Tampa Bay area. I’m a black man and if I was in the woods hunting for someone who had just shot two law enforcement officer. I would shoot first and worry about his race and motive later.
Jeff B.
You’re CRACKIN ME UP!!!!!
Be careful, you know, you may get arrested nowadays for talking like that.
Because there is NO such thing as having a sense of humor anymore.
But I thought it was hysterical. Thanks for the laugh!!!!
TO SADIE: It’s a white man’s world? You are crazy! You think only white cops were out there searching for him? No, black, white, Hispanic, etc.. law enforcers were out there.
And for everyone else saying this was a racial issue, get the facts straight before you go shooting off your mouth. Another thing, if you don’t like how we do things in our state or our country, stay out!
While my heart goes to to the family of the slain officer, the gun downed man has a family too.
If we are going to have a bleeding heart it should be for both families that will never see thier loved ones again.
Keep in that in mind.
As soon as he pulled the trigger he was a dead man walking. I wonder what he had to was hiding & why he did what he did. Sorry for the wife & 3 kids. BUT I think someone should look into why the swat team shot 1st & asked questions later.
Not having a picture to go with the comments I can almost bet who is black and who has been in trouble with the law. I would bet that Tony Jenkings (speaking of profiling) of Orlando is probably black and been in trouble with the law from the remarks he made. And Andy Mah of St. Louis had been in trouble with the law, judging from his hatred of cops (could be wrong but doubt it). Whatever happened to right is right and wrong is wrong????
Whatever happened to being a decent caring human being regardless of race, or ethic background. Whatever happened to people taking accountability for their actions or being held accountable for their actions? If you are a law abiding citizen minding your own business (regardless of color) you wouldn’t hate the cops or people of other colors and races.
Sadie, I understand that profiling does happen and yes, it is wrong, but, how do you know that was the case in this instance? Do you expect the police NOT to pull people over because they are a minority? I think the race card needs to be put away in this instance, unless all of the facts can support it being a racist issue.
So Jay Smith- you kill him to show that it was wrong??? Cold blood murder on top of murder…that same rule should apply “justice given through death” for all those who die by the hand of another
I just hope one of those SWAT guys squeezed off a round or two for me. One for the cop and one for his dog.
Why does everything have to turn into a race issue? We get out of life what we put into it. This person obviously knew what he was into was going to get him into trouble. Why does an innocent person need aliases? He had four. First rule for surviving the police: never run. Yes, like in any other job, there are corrupt officers, officials, congressman, etc. But, he ran and then hid, and then refused to follow the order to show both hands. He bought his own ticket out of this life. I grieve for all the families who lost a loved one. And, I am thankful there are men and women and their families, who sacrifice or risk their own lives for wars that will never be won unitl Jesus comes back.
Great job it turned out just like i wanted it to this guy had no reason to breath our air. Sad for the officer and family as well as the dog.
Maybe they should have baited him up with some fried chicken or a watermelon they could have taken him alive!
although i am agnostic (the only logical religious outlook), i seem to have somewhat the same outlook as so-called ‘followers of god’. i truly believe in the ‘eye for an eye’ saying. the bastard deserved it. he killed a man for no reason, and got killed. good. but what i think is kinda funny is bringin god into it. last time i checked, i think wrath/anger was a sin. and what happened to the “every life is special” talk? does that only pertain to unborn humans?
Excellent job, guys!! Now there is one less piece of trash for the ACLU to coddle!
He shot a cop. The cops will hunt you down and kill you if you resist. That guy committed suicide weather he knew it or not. Thank God for Police Officers that aren’t afraid to do their jobs. Well Done!
Frank Clips: If what you say is true “a bunch of white men hunting down a black guy” is true, then we need some changes within the black community to stop these horiffic crimes. I am sure if he was white the results would have been the same, & I’m sure there were just as many black people happy this jerk was caught and killed. He was a disgrace to the human race. How many more would justify shooting him? He had the opportunity to cooperate from the time he was pulled over!! He had alias’s,why? He had a rented car,why? He didn’t have a valid FL driver’s license,why? He shot at the cops first,why? He ran & did not show both hands,why? Were his guns legal? He stole William’s gun,why? His death was justified! “Am I going to be arrested?” He knew what he was going to do & did it, so the response was justified! My deepest sypmathy to the William’s family! May God see you through your time of loss! God Bless Diogi & we pray for a full recovery for Doug Spiers!!!
Good news. The doper is now fully rehabilitated. Anyone who kills a cop and his dog deserves short sweet justice. Let him burn.
Tony J.,
Sounds to me that YOU’RE the one profiling and obsessing over the black white thing.
Get therapy.
GREAT job Polk County Law Enforcement!!!
The public is behind you ALL the way.
Its very clear that Andy Mah in St Louis doesnt have any loved ones who are officers. There’s no reason to kill a cop or anyone for that matter provoked or not. Are you going to help pay for the college education for the 3 children that Matt left behind?
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Posted by Brenda Conner, Lakeland, FL on 09/29 at 03:54 PM
Jim Pierce, Tampa. Lighten up and get over yourself. Sheesh…....This is about officers who were injured and killed in the line of duty. God Bless them everyone!
P.S. My ancestors were immigrants, but I AM an American, born and raised!