Asking the right questions

Ex-officer in 1977 crash case has criminal past

Who CARES? Who DOESN'T? I'm beginning to think the best people DO. With the exception of the POTUS and wife and cabal and jenna and notjenna who all have criminal pasts. Whatever.

"Everything will be okay in the end. If it isn't okay, it's just not the end."

This is another of MANY cases that appear to be out and out murder. THIRTY YEARS LATER this young man's mother still doesn't know the truth about her son. His brother has finally been forced to sue the city to get at the truth.

They'd rather spend YOUR money than just tell the truth. (City of Clearwater)

That's exactly what will happen with ME. They (City of Tampa) will spend YOUR MONEY defending the indefensible acts they are committing towards my family and loved ones and friends. And then they'll spend MORE of your money to pay me what they could have just done in the first place. WTF?????

I'm attaching this young man's autopsy photos. Thing is ... he's DAMNED CUTE. Truth : He looks BEATEN TO DEATH. Not car-wrecked. When he was enroute to the hospital there was a breakdown by the ambulance used for his transport. Somehow he ended up being transported by the Fire Dept. hmmmmmm and HMMMMMMMM, huh? Then -- a young, healthy guy, who by many accounts was walking around just hours before was DEAD. And even though the exchange from wagon to wagon was made just by the hospital and the hospital was mere minutes from the crash site --- it took them
WAY TOO LONG to get him there. Nothing like the scenic route. I'm putting the autopsy photo at the end. Warning: It is EXTREMELY GRAPHIC. But, it's also the truth which is sometimes not pretty. Just don't go down there.
Here's an excerpt concerning the ambulance ride .... and the rest of the article is compelling.

Excerpt: Butler's report also fails to mention the mysterious breakdown of the C&R Ambulance in front of the Fort Harrison Hotel, three blocks from the hospital, the ambulance which was transporting Michael Niesen.

Butler's report makes no mention of the transfer of Niesen to a rescue vehicle of the Clearwater Fire Department. Although the hospital was only minutes and several blocks away, a significant lapse of time occurred before the fire vehicle arrived at the hospital. C&R personnel say after their vehicle was repaired, they proceeded to the hospital to file their run report, a report which has disappeared as have the reports from the run sheets from the fire department despite it being a double fatal accident.

While the police report says that Niesen would have been charged with the murder of a police officer had he survived and others say he was handcuffed and in custody at the scene, there is no indication in any of the reports that a police officer accompanied him in the ambulance and both the ambulance driver and attendant say that no police officer rode in the ambulance with him.

In fact, both the driver and attendant state that Niesen did not have head wounds when they first came in contact with him at the scene and paramedic Denise Kingsley says that she was "totally surprised" on her return to work several days after the accident to learn that Niesen had died. She said that when he "left my ambulance to be transported by the Clearwater Fire Department, he was in serious condition but I didn't think it was fatal".

By MIKE DONILA
Published December 1, 2006
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Related: Looking for answers in teen's death 30 years later


A former Clearwater police officer who recently broke an almost 30-year silence about police involvement in a fatal car accident has an extensive criminal history and served time for DUI-manslaughter six years after leaving the force.

Edward Garner told the St. Petersburg Times in an exclusive interview Thursday that he doesn't think his past will taint his credibility, and he stands by everything he has said.

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens in court, won't we?" said Garner, 57.

As details about Garner's past emerged, members of a Tampa family told the Times they were the first witnesses to the accident on July 13, 1977, and they questioned the former officer's claims.

At issue is how Michael Scott Niesen, an 18-year-old Georgia resident, died on Clearwater Beach and whether police participated in a coverup to conceal the cause of his death.

Several state investigations over three decades have concluded that Niesen died from injuries he sustained in the crash. The accident also claimed the life of Officer Ronald Mahony, 21, who jumped into the truck's bed as Niesen sped away from a traffic stop.

Since the accident, Niesen's older brother, John, has said his brother was fine after the crash and that police later beat him to death. Niesen and his attorney, former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Del Fuoco, have spent the past couple of months collecting sworn testimonies from witnesses who support those claims.

The new information led Clearwater police Chief Sid Klein Tuesday to ask the U.S. Attorney's Office to review the case, specifically allegations of police misconduct.

* * *

Roland and Bonnie Sanchez and their daughter Natalie D'Angelo told the Times Thursday that they would testify that they stood by a badly injured Michael Niesen and that no officers ever hurt him. The officers didn't necessarily help him either, they said.

"They didn't bother to work on him at first. ... I kept getting upset," said Bonnie Sanchez, 64.

The Sanchezes, who were driving west on Memorial Causeway, said they were stopped at the traffic light near Island Estates when they saw the initial traffic stop involving Niesen take place in the eastbound lane.

Roland Sanchez said Mahony jumped into the back of the truck and was standing as Niesen took off, "swerving pretty erratically, trying to throw him out."

"He cut the wheel so hard that eventually the bumper hit the ground and the truck rolled over end over end a couple of times," Roland Sanchez said. "It almost hit us and then flipped the other way. I saw the officer fly out and the truck roll over the top of him."

The couple were with their two daughters, Natalie and Karen, and a family friend. They had just finished a late dinner on the mainland and were headed back to the Quality Inn to spend another week vacationing on the beach.

While some details are hazy - such as where they ate that night or whether Michael Niesen was bleeding - they all say the rest of their memories of the night are vivid.

"That kid went through the windshield, and when he landed, he never lifted a finger," said 67-year-old Roland Sanchez, a retired pastor at Bible Baptist Church in Lakeland.

Natalie, 13 at the time, said she walked up to Niesen to see whether he was okay. She said it's a memory that has haunted her for years.

"His chest wasn't moving. He didn't flinch. His chest didn't go up or down," she said.

The family's accounts contradict what John Niesen and Del Fuoco are trying to prove happened.

Ex-officer's credibility could be a problem

Garner's credibility also could be a problem.

Del Fuoco has called Garner "one of the most important witnesses in the case," but said he wasn't aware of his past.

Garner was arrested several times from 1979 to 1983 on charges of passing bad checks, theft, violating probation and driving while intoxicated.

In November 1983, he was arrested after he drove his van into a garbage truck, killing a 22-year-old Odessa man, authorities said. The accident occurred in Holiday on Darlington Road, just east of U.S. 19.

Garner negotiated a plea and was given a 10-year sentence. He served 31/2 years and was released in 1987.

In a 30-minute interview with the Times Thursday, Garner reiterated that he felt Niesen was coherent and uninjured and said he even talked briefly with him before leaving to direct traffic.

Garner said the next day, "about 30 officers" met to put together a final report. He said he was "coached" on what to write and told he shouldn't mention that Niesen wasn't hurt. He doesn't recall who told him to do that.

"I was a little intimidated, and I didn't feel good about it, but the hierarchy said this is how it's going to be," he said.

Garner said he never wanted to come forward because he was worried about his career but also never had "enough proof."

Garner joined the Clearwater Police Department in March 1977 but resigned in April 1978 after he admitted abusing the city's sick leave by calling in sick "when, in fact, he was found to be drinking in a local bar," according to his employment records.

Garner refused to talk about his past, other than to say he left the department "while going through a nasty divorce - I couldn't concentrate. I just left. Period."

He later became a self-employed satellite television dealer.

While serving time, he sobered up, attending Alcoholics Anonymous programs, court documents say.

Del Fuoco defended Garner. "It's not like we have one witness we're relying on," he said. "We have multiple witnesses, and they're all backing each other up."

Two retired emergency medical technicians contacted by the Times have said Niesen was uninjured when they first saw him at the accident scene.

Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said the information about Garner's background would have no bearing on the decision to ask that the case be reviewed.

"As all the facts become known to the public, everyone will have a better and more complete understanding of the lack of scope of this case," he said.

Officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office did not return calls seeking comment.

Times staff writer Thomas Lake and researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Mike Donila can be reached at mdonila@sptimes.com or 727 445-4160.

[Last modified December 1, 2006, 08:37:04]

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Comments on this article
by Deborah 12/04/06 12:05 PM
With your vast knowledge and resources we look to the media to INVESTIGATE our facts, of police corruption. You cover a story and present both sides without really investigating. When things don't add up the media should be relentless to find out why
by Deborah 12/04/06 12:17 AM
Unless you have lived through the devastation of a police cover-up, you would find it hard to believe. We American now, more then ever have to start asking the tough questions. Good police officer's are also victims of a system that uses them.
by Jim 12/03/06 10:40 PM
Here we go again, if the St. Pete times says its true I must be fact. Make your judgement by the evidence, not what the Times publishes as fact. They only seem to report what they feel is the truth with no regard for the actual facts.
by Tim 12/02/06 06:59 PM
I don't see any of the cops comming forward defending Cairns Egger or Anderson you would think they would if
by Lee 12/02/06 06:55 PM
If the city covered up what their officers did they should have to pay big time it sounds like these cops became judge jury and executioner
by Lynn 12/01/06 03:49 PM
It seems to me that the cops never did a real investigation maybe the Feds will do what the CPD never did get to the truth
by Bob 12/01/06 03:43 PM
Why don't you guys in the media talk to the other wittnesses listed in the police report Im sure they could tell us much more about the police and their cover up the rats are circleing the wagons
by laura 12/01/06 02:36 PM
The question should be: how many deaths have they covered up BESIDES this one?? Of course, my comment won't be published any more than the first one was. Look for the truth in the cop-perps. Good luck, Mr. Niesen.
by Michael 12/01/06 01:45 PM
It sounds like a former disgruntled employee with an axe to grind with CPD. I have the utmost confidence that the evidence will show that there was no misconduct on behalf of the officers.
by Russ 12/01/06 08:54 AM
We'll see what a jury thinks.... He's not the only witness....
by Spike 12/01/06 08:30 AM
CPD isn't exactly teeming with credibility either. Power soaked minds always have a false perception of reality. ( I THINK this is a friend of mine who would KNOW!)
by Mike 12/01/06 06:46 AM
Former officer Garner's total lack of credibility doesn't only speak for itself - it screams!Those of us who worked with him in '77 at CPD are not surprised. Alcohol drenched minds often have false perceptions of reality - this seems a case in point.