Sarasota Herald Tribune 

November 10, 1999
Section: B SECTION
Page: 1B
Jennifer Sullivan STAFF WRITER

A top prosecutor said Tuesday that a Sarasota County sheriff's corporal acted appropriately when he fatally shot a fleeing suspect, who then caused a car accident that killed another man and left a third man in a coma.

In reaching that conclusion after several days of review, Chief Assistant State Attorney Henry Lee released the detailed investigation into the Sept.  30 shooting on Bahia Vista Street. Many facts in the case had not been disclosed, such as how the men died and who was struck by bullets. According to the report:

Sheriff's deputies and members of an FBI special investigations task force went to a home in the 2400 block of Bahia Vista Street shortly before noon to serve Ryan Hart, 26, with three arrest warrants.

The warrants charged the convicted drug dealer with selling crack cocaine three times to an undercover detective with the Bradenton Police Department.

When officers attempted to serve the warrants, Hart fled in his car with his friends Ricardo Robinson and Leon Waiters Jr., both 19.

Although the car was surrounded by armed deputies, the three escaped when Hart - with marijuana and alcohol in his system - drove "the vehicle back and forth until he was able to put the car in a westbound direction, driving across the front yard and over shrubbery."

Capt. Kevin Gooding and Cpl. Tim Bauer shot at the moving car. Gooding missed. One round from Bauer's gun hit the driver's door; the other round went through the driver's window and struck Hart in the chest.

Hart lost control of the car, which slammed into a concrete utility pole and an embankment a block from the house.

According to an autopsy, Hart died from the gunshot wound. Both he and Robinson, who suffered fatal injuries in the crash, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Waiters, who was sitting in the back seat, suffered rib and head injuries.  He was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he remains in a coma.

Lee decided that the shooting was justified because Hart's driving threatened deputies and could have endangered the public. In addition, Sheriff Geoff Monge said it appears that Hart's actions, not the shooting alone, caused him to lose control of the car.

While the families of Hart and Robinson have met at vigils and have loudly voiced their concerns about the investigation, Waiter's family has waited quietly for the report's release.

After hearing of Lee's decision, Leon Waiters Sr. said Tuesday that he is considering "taking action against the county."

"That gunshot wound caused my son to get messed up," he said.

Waiters Sr. said he goes to the hospital daily to check on his only son.  Progress has been slow for the comatose man, but he recently opened his eyes for the first time since the crash, Waiters Sr. said.

Waiters Sr. said his son has brain damage and will be committed to a home in south St. Petersburg for the rest of his life.

Lee's decision was based on the findings of the sheriff's internal Shooting Review Board, which determined in Octoberthat the shooting was justified.  Lee said he was satisfied with the Sheriff's Office's investigation and said "this office intends to take no further action concerning this incident."

Caption: Ryan Hart, 26, crashed his car, killing a passenger, after he fled and was shot.