Officer Won't Face Charges in Suspect's Death

DUNDEE | A Dundee police officer will not face charges in connection with the April 10 shooting death of a theft suspect outside the Winn-Dixie grocery store on U.S. 27.

Officer Nicholas "Nick" Burns, 22, shot Tyrone Hawkins, 31, of 218 Shepard Ave., Dundee, six times, according to a file in the State Attorney's Office. Hawkins who was suspected of stealing lawn furniture from a display outside the store.

"The evidence presented is insufficient to support a criminal homicide charge," a grand jury decided last week in issuing a "no true bill."

Polk County Medical Examiner Stephen Nelson said Hawkins died from "multiple gunshot wounds."

Those included a "contact wound" to the left side of the head, two shots in the neck, one in the left shoulder, one in the upper arm and one in the left flank area.

Burns and his supervisor, Cpl. Ralph Marshall, had responded to a call from the store's manager about 11:40 p.m. about a suspicious SUV that had been circling the parking lot.

Reports said a newspaper carrier had alerted the manager earlier about thefts from an outside display.

After stopping the SUV, Burns had Hawkins get out of the vehicle to answer questions while Marshall talked to the store manager.

Reports said Burns spotted a box in the back of the Chevrolet Suburban that contained a pop-up canopy, similar to ones in the display.

When Hawkins got back in the truck and attempted to flee, Burns tried to stop him by removing the keys from the ignition, reports said.

Hawkins started to drive off, with Burns partially in the vehicle.

Burns told investigators he was afraid and knew the bullets were "coming from me," but he doesn't recall the details of unholstering his pistol or firing it.

Burns was bruised when he either fell or jumped from the vehicle before it collided with a concrete light pole.

Burns and Marshall were placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Dundee police Lt. Rick Bowman said Marshall was on paid administrative leave for a few days and returned to work after receiving counseling.

Burns has been on paid administrative leave since the incident, has been through counseling and was scheduled to return to duty Monday night.

Police Chief Sammy Taylor is planning an in-house review of the incident, but no disciplinary action is expected, Bowman said.

Burns was hired in October 2006 and is paid $30,638 annually. He received a commendation for assisting residents at Dell Lake Village in the aftermath of a tornado. There were no reprimands in his personnel file.

Before his employment in Dundee, he worked for the Haines City Police Department from September 2005 to September 2006. His personnel file from Haines City had one disciplinary action after Burns got into an argument with a neighbor in Auburndale, said Haines City Police Chief Morris West.

He used profanity and was acting unprofessionally, West said.

Polk County Jail records show Hawkins had an arrest history that dates to 1996.

He was charged with burglary and driving with a suspended license in 1996 and served 15 months in state prison, according to the State Attorney's Office.

He was charged with driving with a suspended license again in 2000, and after violating his probation, he served another 15 months in prison.

In 2003, Hawkins was charged with forgery and grand theft. He was sentenced to two years' probation.

In 2006, Hawkins served 60 days in jail for petty theft.

He has had a total of 15 arrests, many for minor crimes such as possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and shoplifting.

[ Bill Bair can be reached at bill.bair@theledger.com or at 863-676-7118. ]