By Josh Poltilove
Tampa Tribune
TAMPA, Fla. — Officer Prentice K. Shellman didn’t buckle an arrestee into the back seat of his police cruiser. He didn’t close the cruiser’s window. And he didn’t notice when the arrestee escaped out the window as Shellman drove to an inmate transport van.
When another officer pointed out that the man was gone, Shellman said, ‘I’m blown.” He then jumped into his patrol car and went the wrong way down a one-way street.
“Something crazy just happened. Stand by,” Shellman told a dispatcher. “I think the suspect just jumped out of the car.’'
Details of the escape and Shellman’s actions were made available today to The Tampa Tribune following an internal affairs investigation by Tampa police.
Officers say Shellman didn’t notice when the man escaped and didn’t provide a suspect description or say which direction the man was traveling until prompted by a dispatcher. He gave police inaccurate, incomplete information and failed to complete a timely report about facts surrounding the escape.
Two days later, he denied the escape occurred at all, the report states.
Police say Shellman’s actions July 5 allowed the arrestee to escape and impeded police from catching the arrestee. Shellman, a patrolman in District III, resigned Friday following the investigation.
“Officer Shellman’s actions on the night of the escape and in the following days show a pattern of confusion and disorientation,” according to a Nov. 30 final disposition of the case.
Police found Shellman was inattentive to duty, didn’t examine his police vehicle and failed to comply with department policy regarding searching, transporting and booking of prisoners.
How it began
The incident began in Ybor City, when Shellman and another officer saw people urinating in an alleyway, according to the disposition. One suspect fled after being confronted by police but was caught by Shellman after a short chase.
Shellman handcuffed the man and placed him in the patrol car. The man identified himself as Amillo Hicks, though police say he was later identified as Alfred Davis, who had warrants for his arrest.
Davis called his girlfriend and when she arrived, Shellman let the couple talk through an open rear window. He later told investigators the window was rolled down because the suspect was sweating profusely.
Shellman told investigators that while he was driving Davis toward a prisoner transport van, he heard a loud “bang” from the back seat, as though the suspect kicked a divider, but didn’t turn to see what caused the sound.
When Shellman arrived at the van, Officer Adam Strickland looked in the back seat and asked Shellman if someone else was bringing the prisoner.
Shellman said the arrestee was in the back of the cruiser, but when Strickland shined a flashlight in the cruiser, all he saw was one sandal on the back seat and another sandal on the floorboard.
“He told Officer Shellman that no one was there. Officer Shellman got out of his car and looked for himself. Officer Shellman stated, ‘I’m blown.’''
Shellman drove south into northbound traffic and activated his overhead lights to avoid a crash. Shellman then went through a parking lot and back north onto 11th Avenue, apparently trying to retrace his path, according to the investigative documents. He later told investigators that he was “stunned” and “like in a daze.”
Soon after the escape, Sgt. Joseph Fish met with Shellman to get more information.
“According to Sergeant Fish, Officer Shellman was agitated, confused and flustered,” the disposition states. “He could not answer basic questions such as, where the suspect got out of his car, what he was wearing, or if he had the defendant identified. Sergeant Fish believed that Officer Shellman was in a ‘state of confusion.’”
Later, a corporal went to Shellman’s home and showed him a picture of a person she thought might be the escapee. Shellman identified the person in the picture as the escapee, but it was later learned that person was already in prison.
On July 7, officers caught Davis, the person they believe to be the correct suspect. Charges against Davis include escape from law enforcement custody, obstructing or opposing an officer without violence and criminal mischief. He has pleaded not guilty.
After being told that the escapee had been caught, Shellman initially denied that anyone had escaped from him, police say.
A prior investigation
Shellman has been disciplined before by the department.
He was suspended 12 days following an October 2008 incident, according to police. Shellman had two bottles of malt liquor in the trunk of his cruiser, and he watched pornography while on duty, according to an internal affairs investigation from that incident.
On Oct. 29, 2008, Shellman and two other officers responded to a reported domestic dispute at Columbus Drive and Lincoln Street. One of the officers thought he smelled alcohol on Shellman’s breath and notified a corporal.
A lieutenant didn’t smell any alcohol on Shellman but questioned Shellman about the last time he drank alcohol, and Shellman “was very ambiguous in his answer,” the Jan. 21 final disposition states.
Investigators found two unopened quart bottles of Olde English 800 malt liquor in the trunk of Shellman’s cruiser and a CD case containing several adult movies in the cruiser’s passenger compartment, according to the disposition.
Shellman admitted he had watched pornography while on duty but said he didn’t drink alcohol for at least nine hours prior to the start of his Oct. 29, 2008 shift. Results of an alcohol/drug test came back negative.
Copyright 2009 Tampa Tribune