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No Fault Found In Shooting Of Man Who Killed Polk Deputy
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Published: June 5, 2008
LAKELAND - The U.S. Department of Justice has cleared the Polk County Sheriff's Office of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Angilo Freeland, the man who shot and killed Deputy Matt Williams and his police dog, DiOGi, in September 2006.
The DOJ's civil rights division communicated its finding in a brief letter to Sheriff Grady Judd from Mark J. Kappelhoff, a section chief of the division.
"After careful consideration, we concluded that the evidence does not establish a prosecutable violation of the federal civil rights statutes," the letter states. "Accordingly, we have closed our investigation."
The letter offers no specifics of its investigations or finding beyond that declaration.
Freeland, a 29-year-old with ties to at least two violent street-level crime rings in Hernando and Orange counties, killed Williams and his dog on Sept. 29 as they tracked him in a dense patch of woods after Freeland fled from a traffic stop near Interstate 4 in north Lakeland.
After a 24-hour manhunt, a team of nine officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and from the Polk, Marion and Lake sheriffs' offices stumbled upon Freeland, who had holed up underneath a fallen tree in dense underbrush.
Freeland made no effort to surrender, police said.
After a final warning, wildlife officer Robert Miller told investigators, he saw Freeland's face become more alert and his right hand jerk.
From about three yards away, Miller "fired a shot with my shotgun" at Freeland's face.
After shooting, Miller jumped back, falling onto his backside, causing other officers to think he had been shot. A cascade of fire ensued, killing Freeland. The officers, most of them firing automatic weapons, inflicted 68 gunshot wounds, investigators said.
A few months later, after complaints about the shooting from Freeland's family, the Department of Justice opened its civil rights investigation.
Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.
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