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Man gets 40 years in shootout with police

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By TOM BRENNAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 12, 2009

TAMPA - A man was sentenced to 40 years in prison this morning on attempted murder and other charges stemming from a July 2005 shootout with police.

Eugene Betts, 26, was convicted this week of firing at Tampa police officers on July 11, 2005. The officers were assisting St. Petersburg police who considered Betts a possible witness to a fatal shooting.

Witnesses testified the officers approached Betts about 3:30 a.m. outside 9444 Windermere Lakes Drive. They said Betts opened fire and ran. One officer was hit in the ankle.

Cpl. Gene Strickland, who was shot, asked Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emmett Battles for a stiff sentence.

"I can't tell you how this has affected my life," he said.

Afterward, Strickland said he was pleased with the sentence.

"I think the judge did a good job on this," he said.

Battles imposed 30-year sentences on the two attempted second-degree murder charges, saying they should run at the same time. He also imposed five-year sentences on two attempted manslaughter convictions but ordered that those be served consecutively.

Betts' attorney, Daniel Hernandez, had asked that any sentences be served concurrently.

"This is one criminal episode," he said.

Hernandez said Betts didn't speak on his own behalf because he plans to appeal the conviction and also faces second-degree murder and other charges in Pinellas County.

Pinellas authorities said Betts and three others attempted to rob a group of men in July 2005, five days before the shootout with police. One of the intended victims pulled a gun and fatally shot one of the suspects.

Betts is charged with murder under a state law that allows such a charge when a defendant is involved in a felony in which a death occurs.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 259-7698.

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