Chapter 29

When I awoke, I realized that today would be a strain with the people from DC hanging over our shoulders. I hoped they would get their fill of tactical takedowns and get an idea of how rough it can get.

I was headed outside to do some stretching when I realized it was pouring. I went to the porch area and stretched in a standing position to loosen up. Lisa had moved behind me and Taiying and Sing behind her. I realized the three women were there with me, when I came to the end. Taiying said, "You need to build a large gym so we can do our morning forms out of the rain."

I looked at the pool and decided I didn't need the swim, so we went back inside to have some coffee. Aunt Etta was sitting at the counter with her cup of coffee. She smiled at me and said, "Did I hear you using some foul language yesterday? You know what your mother used to do."

I burst out laughing since it was exactly what I thought would happen. Aunt Etta said, "Your mother was always a stickler about your language. You tried to get away with some, but your mother would hear you anyway. What was your favorite, the homemade laundry lye soap, or the old grey Lava?"

The girls were listening to Aunt Etta as she told on me. Lisa said, "So that's why we never hear the man cuss. He does it sometimes, but it's so very rare."

Brandy was holding Dan and said, "Just exactly the way it has to be for these boys. They will hear enough from others anyway, but they need to hear their dad speak without that language."

Ji came staggering into the kitchen with his arms out in front of him. He was saying, 'Da da da' as he came toward me. How do you resist? I scooped him up and received some morning kisses. The other little oriental boy was following his mother, and spied Ji in my arms. He almost ran to me with his arms out, also saying 'Da da da'. I scooped Kai up and received a kiss from him. The boys were both jabbering at the same time. I'm sure they were telling me something that was important. The closeness didn't last long before they both wanted down. My next visitor was Sarah, who wanted up along with Sam. You can be really busy just by giving and getting some attention from ten little ones.

Carlo was growing rapidly and could walk or wobble with his brothers and sisters. He came to me and smiled to be picked up. Instead of 'Da da', Carlo very plainly said, 'Papa'. He was smiling while sitting on my lap when Gina came to retrieve him for his breakfast.

I rushed through my shower and shave. I dressed in slacks, with a decent shirt and a sport coat. We were going to be busy. I explained to the women that Lisa and I had to get going early as we had people to meet at work. Lisa and I drove by the patio and grabbed a couple of sandwiches and a couple of go cups of coffee, while the women prepared to haul the kids over.

The traffic wasn't bad and we were downtown and parked in the garage before the scheduled meeting time. I didn't remember whether we were going to meet in the station or elsewhere, but I had to believe our jumping off point would be from the station.

Our three guests were being fitted with vests as well as helmets with neck flaps at the office. I didn't know we had those. The rest of the men on this detail were checking weapons. Lisa and I checked out a couple of MP5s with six magazines each. We used a belt to hook magazine pouches on. We all made sure we had two sets of handcuffs since we didn't know who, how many, or what we would find.

I gave the briefing and told the men. "Today is a standard takedown. We know the couple we're after are armed and have fired on police before. The biggest danger is them physically, since they are supposed to be martial arts experts. Lisa and Wanda are trained and should be able to handle the female. I'll be the guinea pig if there is a confrontation with the man." Dave groaned behind me and I glared at him. "You observers will ride in one of the Suburbans. You will stay in the vehicle and observe our activities through our head cams. Under no circumstance will you leave the vehicle or interfere with the warrant. Is everyone clear?" After a brief pause, I said, "Let's mount up and hit it."

Hank and his men had our vehicles out back, including my Impala. Hank said, "I put your equipment cases in the trunk in case you should need them. Good luck and be safe."

I let the lead truck show us the way. We made it to the New Tampa area in a very short time because we were going against traffic. We pulled up down the block from the target house, and I instructed, "The first four men go cover the back. I want the next four to cover the two sides. Remember, they could be shooting by this time so be smart, stay under cover."

I told Dave, "Have your driver back in and park in the driveway across the street. I want them to see as much as possible, as well as what's on the video screens." I knew the observers had eight screens in front of them that would show what we were doing via the head cams we were wearing.

When I saw that the men were in place, Lisa, Wanda, and I parked in front of the house and approached the door with a copy of the warrant in my hand. I rang the bell and banged on the door. Before anyone could answer, I yelled, "This is the U.S. Marshal's office to exercise a warrant."

Thank goodness we were standing to the side of the door, as several rounds were fired through the door. This was a surprise as this couple wasn't supposed to be weapons freaks. We heard the garage door begin to open and Wanda and Lisa moved around to cover the garage. They were met by one of the other Deputies as the door raised high enough for a car to move out. The engine started, but Wanda shot out the two tires on her side as the Deputy took care of the tires on the other side. Lisa told me later the driver's window on the car came down and an automatic weapon of some type was pointed out the window. The three people all yelled the warning that they would shoot if the weapon wasn't dropped and the person was to get out of the car.

The person in the car got out but apparently hadn't dropped the gun. He couldn't see the three people and began yelling at them to show themselves. That's when he began firing straight across the street at the Suburban parked facing his way. The man emptied his weapon and was reaching for another magazine when Lisa rushed the guy and did a leg sweep, followed by a slap to the throat. She had the guy cuffed and his legs tie-wrapped before he could recover.

The Deputy must have communicated with Dave, as he nodded and went back to his position at the side of the house.

I hollered again, and I heard someone coming downstairs this time. The door flew open and a guy who had to be six four or five, and had to weigh about two fifty to two seventy-five, came out yelling, "You want me, you take me. No one takes me unless you shoot me."

The guy saw me and thought he would quickly put me out of my misery. He leaped to kick me in the head, but I turned his foot to the side and whacked him in the crotch. The guy went down, but was right back on his feet. He obviously was a martial arts trained man who could put pain out of his mind.

The guy was huge, and I actually thought of just shooting him and be done with it, but that's not what the people sitting in the Suburban wanted to see.

I backed up and told the man once again that I was there to exercise a warrant for his apprehension. He was considered in custody, although not in jail. I acted like I wasn't paying any attention to him as I folded the warrant and put it in my jacket pocket. The man rushed at me in an attempt to knock me down, but I was able to use his momentum to pull him over me and slam him to the ground that was also partly a concrete sidewalk. The man lay there stunned as I quickly cuffed him and used a tie-wrap on his feet.

Wanda was back up on the side of the front door when a female in tights came running through the door, slashing a sword at both sides. Wanda reached out and grabbed her hair and pulled her down, and also kicked the wrist holding the sword handle. The sword clattered to the ground as the female leaped to her feet and faced Wanda. The woman rather loudly said, "I'll kill you for that. No one embarrasses me when I have my sword."

The woman rushed Wanda, who must have looked like an easy target to the woman. Wanda avoided the spread arms, and pulled her into a high arc and slammed her into the ground. Lisa was right there to cuff the stunned woman and tie-wrap her feet.

Two Deputies, Lisa, Wanda, and I went through the house to make sure no one was hiding. We didn't find anyone. Dave had called for transport for the prisoners, but we didn't know who the guy was who tried to leave in the car. After going through the personal information in his wallet, we determined he was wanted for several armed robberies in the area.

Dave had allowed the observers to get out of the car to stretch their legs. The domineering woman asked, "Why didn't you shoot the guy when he fired on us? He could have killed us." The wimpy guy had a stain on his pants, and you could tell he had been scared into peeing on himself. The third person said, "That was very professional, and you did demonstrate that you could apprehend these people without shooting them."

I told them, "We have to go back to the office to check on the next operation. Both of the next warrants should be fun."

We had to wait until the Marshal's Office Crime Scene people were on site. The prisoner pickup van left with the three people and a copy of the warrant.

We all used the facilities and had some coffee back at the station. The male observer excused himself and went to the hotel to change pants. I began briefing the men on the next warrant when he returned. This time it was a pair, not a couple, or at least we didn't think so. Two men had broken out of jail in New Jersey and had made their way to Florida. The FBI had discovered their hiding place while checking on another person they were interested in.

The building they were in was an abandoned warehouse where utilities had been turned on somehow, and the men had set up living quarters for people on the run. They were charging a lot of money for the privilege of staying there, and had been successful in keeping the place hidden for almost a year.

There was no good way to attack the building, so we were going to have to go in through fire escape windows, the front, and the rear. The plan was to penetrate the building through the fire escape windows, and then announce the opportunity for them to surrender before attacking. Knowing the past history of the men and the potential of other felons with weapons being there, we had some reservations about doing this one without a tactical unit.

We discovered the building's rear entrance had an overhead door, so I thought we might ram the door to see if we could gain access that way too. Two teams went up fire escapes on both sides, and were able to gain access through windows. The one Suburban with push bars was poised, ready to penetrate the overhead door. I had Dave back up about a 100 ft, facing the building.

I began yelling to give up and come out with their hands over their head. I was pounding on the door and yelling at the same time. Lisa and I heard noises of feet running up and down stairways. I waved for the Suburban to attempt to break the door down. The truck went right through the big door and was met with a whole lot of small arms fire. The Suburban backed out and remained poised to go in again. The Deputy in charge of the unit used a bullhorn to advise the occupants that they should come out with their hands over their head.

That's when a Deputy who was exposed took four rounds in the vest and one in his leg. I was the nearest, so I ran to him and pulled him behind a dumpster. I put a tourniquet on his leg and radioed for medical help.

We used the horn to tell them to come out with their hands in the air once again, but that was met by rounds hitting all around the Deputy in charge. He radioed his inside men to begin sweeping each floor and each area. He warned, "They are armed and they are shooting. Be careful."

I decided Lisa and I needed to be inside, so I went to one of the vehicles and took some small explosive charges and set them at the doorknob and three hinges. I looped the detonator between the four charges and backed away. I hollered for the others to know what I was doing and set the charges off. The big steel door just fell off the door jamb and landed below where the truck dock was.

Lisa and I were apprehensive of a frontal assault, but we went up to each side of the door. I peeked around the corner a couple of times and couldn't see anyone, so we entered a small room that had only one door that led into the main warehouse...

I swung that door open and moved a nearby chair in front of it so we wouldn't worry about it closing on us. I used the handheld radio and told the Suburban with the push bars to come back in and knock down a barrier that had been pushed to the middle of the warehouse.

Lisa and I had looked over the warehouse and decided the people were hiding out somewhere in the building, but not in the main area. The Suburban pushed the barrier aside and then pushed down several other barriers. I radioed the man to back out and standby when he was done clearing a large area.

I motioned Lisa to watch me as I went up the steps to an old office area with windows facing out over the warehouse. The place looked like it had been cleaned and straightened up, so it had been in use. I needed to clear the rooms, but I should have backup. I motioned for Lisa to come up behind me and we entered the office.

With Lisa constantly watching all around the office, I cleared every space that would conceal a human. We went to the next door office area when that area was secure, and began doing the same. We heard movement and what sounded like someone stumbling over something as soon as we entered this area. If they were rats, they were big ones, but I figure these rats to be two-legged.

We cleared one office at a time until only one remained. I said loud enough to be heard, "Come out with your hands above your head. I will shoot you. Come out now."

There was scraping on the other side of the desk and a woman stood up, but she held a pistol. I softly said, "Don't make us shoot you. Please put the weapon down and step back."

The woman frantically looked around before finally putting the gun on the desk. I stuffed it in my waistband while Lisa put cuffs on her. We led the woman downstairs and stuffed her in the Suburban we had used as a battering ram. I gave the driver the gun and told him to bag and tag it.

We were walking back into the warehouse through the smashed door when rounds were fired and were kicking up pieces of concrete. Lisa was aiming high in the warehouse, and I yelled, "Give up now or you will die." A string of rounds hit near us, and Lisa shot twice. Two bodies fell from the upper level of the warehouse.

More rounds began coming from the other side of the warehouse where more offices were on a second level as soon as the bodies hit the floor. I radioed for a report from the men sweeping the upper floors. Over the radio, we heard, "We're pinned down at the end of a hallway; can't tell how many, but they can't get to us without exposing themselves. Can you come up?"

I waited to hear from the other team, and finally heard, "We have some of the men in sight, but can't get to them. I think these are the men holding the other team down."

Wow, how many people were in this building? I told Lisa, "Use the scope and check every area up there. I'll do the same and watch for shadows that change."

We looked at the entire upper area and we both found the same two shadows. As we sat there, I asked Lisa, "We have a shot at the one, but should we do him?"

Lisa answered, "Can you wing him? This is a case of disabling as well as capturing. The guy has a rifle, so he's fair game."

I was watching as both were exposed enough to get a shot at them. "You do the one on the left and I'll do the guy on the right, Lisa. One, two, three." Bang! There was no discernable difference between the shots. We had fired at the exact same time.

Lisa said, "My shot may have been too good. He moved just as I fired."

I told her, "I can see both of them moving, so they're both alive. I just hope they are incapacitated enough for us to get up there."

We heard some muffled shots that seemed to be coming from a higher level. We both hoped the sound of the gunfire would distract anyone long enough for Lisa and I to get across the warehouse floor and up the other side.

We ran in a crouched position and went up the stairs with our eyes swiveling. We were almost to the porch that ran in front of the offices, when a round was fired from behind us. A guy toppled off the roof of the offices that we had just cleared. I looked down and saw Wanda behind some crates, resting her rifle on them.

Well, there goes another bad guy for the observers to wonder if we could have saved. Wanda will now have to write a creative report. I motioned for Lisa to keep a watch overhead while I climbed the ladder that went to the top of the office area. That needed to be cleared before we checked the offices.

I slung my rifle over my shoulder and went up the ladder with two hands and my one good foot. The prosthesis didn't do that well on ladders. I pulled my Glock and peered over the top. Nothing there that I could see, but there were several large boxes stored up there. In a gentle but stern voice, I said, "Come out now and save yourself. At least three of your people have died, and at least two more are wounded. We will end up killing you if you don't come out."

I had keyed my handheld so the observers could hear me as I looked at the dark area over the offices. I went on up and walked around up there when I heard nothing. I used a flashlight and could see my footprints where I had walked in the dirt, but no others. The place must be clear.

I went back down the ladder, which was as tough as going up, and stood by Lisa. "Ready to clear these? Keep in mind that the other end of this platform is where the two snipers were. Let's clear each office and work our way down there."

We went through the first office and found nothing. The second office had another female hiding in a closet, but she didn't have a gun. We cuffed her and used a tie-wrap around both feet anchored to a chair. Lisa wanted to be sure so she ripped the ladies shirt sleeve off and used it and some carton tape for a gag.