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Hillsborough Deputy To Be Honored For Ending Rampage

By JOSH POLTILOVE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 25, 2008

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Deputy Malachi McCoy

TAMPA - Deputy Malachi McCoy, who ended a gunman's rampage in northwest Tampa in June, will receive the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's Medal of Honor at an awards ceremony in September.

It is the highest award bestowed by the office.

On June 7, Jorge Orlando Bello Garcia, a former truck driver who recently had separated from his wife, drove to the Carrollwood rental home where the couple had lived and fatally shot her, a family friend and a Hillsborough County fire captain, authorities say.

When deputies stopped Bello in his pickup minutes later, he shot Deputy Arturo "Art" Lence in the lower torso and Deputy Raymond Wilson in the arm. Bello, also known as George Bello, was trying to wrest Wilson's firearm from him when McCoy ran up and shot him in the head, according to the sheriff's office.

Lence remains out on medical leave and Wilson has gone back to work, sheriff's office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said last week.

McCoy, 29, has been with the sheriff's office for about eight years.

He had dreamed of being a police officer since he was 15 and a student at Leto High School in Tampa. That's when he joined the sheriff's office Explorer's Post No. 238, a program that gives youngsters an inside look at law enforcement.

After graduating from high school, McCoy became a county jail community service officer.

He soon enrolled in the sheriff's office academy and worked as a reserve officer. He became a full-fledged deputy in 2000.

The awards ceremony will be held Sept. 9 at the sheriff's office training division, 1409 N. Falkenburg Road.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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