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Florida Deputy in Bathroom Wounded in Shootout


Posted: Friday, June 26, 2009
Updated: June 26th, 2009 09:36 AM GMT-05:00


ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. --

A deputy was wounded Thursday inside a Pine Hills gas station during a shootout with a 16-year-old stolen car suspect, but she wasn't in the fight; she was in the bathroom. The other deputy was injured when he crashed his motorcycle while racing to the crime scene.

"This all happened very rapidly, in the matter of seconds," Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Thursday.

Deputies were trying to arrest 16-year-old Rodney Burton (suspect's rap sheet) for driving a stolen car Thursday morning. When they followed him into a Chevron station, near the corner of Pine Hills Road and Silver Star (see map), to make the arrest the bullets started flying.

The clerk says Burton had just given him cash for a phone card when deputies came in and told the teenager to get on the ground, but he says the teenager ran instead and pulled out a gun. Burton was hit by at least one bullet.

The clerk said at least three shots were fired, not all, but most, by the deputies. The clerk didn't want to be identified, but said the gunfire erupted after Burton tried to run but got trapped in the store.

"The cop came in, told him to get on the floor. I shut the window. I thought it was a robbery. He made his way to the back door to try to find a way out. The door was locked. He tried to run to the back side. That's when shots started firing," the clerk told Eyewitness News (watch full interview).

Deputy Hope Cieszynski, from the fugitive unit, just happened to be in the store using the ladies room. A bullet went through the wall and either the bullet or shrapnel hit her in the leg. It's unclear who fired that shot. Minutes after the shooting, Corporal Jeff Riggs, from the motor unit, crashed his motorcycle as he raced to the scene.

Rodney Burton "I drove up just as he had gone down on the motorcycle. He said he had his lights on. I don't know whether he had the siren on or not but he said a vehicle pulled in front of him and he locked his brakes up," Sheriff Demings said (watch sheriff's full comments).

Sheriff Demings said Burton was holding up the gas station. The clerk says he wasn't; he had just paid cash for a phone card.

"Could've gotten worse. Maybe they came at the right time, maybe they didn't. Who knows?" the clerk said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating. The Florida Highway Patrol issued a report citing the motorcycle deputy for the crash, but he won't face any repercussions because he was responding to a call.

THREE INJURED TRANSPORTED TO ORMC

All three people injured were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center; that includes both deputies and the 16-year-old suspect.

Fortunately, it appears that both deputies, who have a combined 11 years on the force, will be fine. Burton is in the most serious condition.

Medics rushed injured 35-year-old Deputy Hope Cieszynski into ORMC around noon. She happened to be using the restroom at the gas station, listening to a different scanner channel, when a bullet hit her in the knee.

"Hope was the deputy that apparently received the gunshot wound to the leg. She's gonna be okay," Sheriff Demings said.

About ten minutes after Cieszynski came in, her colleague, Corporal Jeff Riggs, a motorcycle patrolman, arrived. His helmet may have helped save his life when he slammed into a trailer as he raced to the crime scene. Like Cieszynski, Riggs will be fine. He mostly suffered bad bruises and road burn and won't be cited for the crash because he was racing to an emergency call.

Burton was actually first to arrive. His injuries appear to be the most severe. He suffered a bullet wound to the head or neck, but will likely survive.

Sheriff Demings said his officers were only defending themselves.

"We want to come out ahead every time. We have to win in these types of situations," he said.

At least a dozen deputies came by the hospital Thursday to check on their injured colleagues. Both Riggs and Cieszynski were released from the hospital Thursday afternoon.

TEEN SUSPECT MAY BE IN CRIME RING

Deputies said the 16-year-old suspect, Rodney Burton, may have been a part of a crime ring involving stolen Dodge Intrepids. Deputies said the same kind of car has been stolen repeatedly in Pine Hills over the past few weeks.

Sources told Eyewitness News there have been four or five Dodge cars stolen in the past week. The sheriff's office is now looking at Burton to see if he is linked to any of the other crimes.

Dodge Intrepids are a hot item for car thieves in the Pine Hills area. The Orange County Sheriff's Office says the Auto Theft and Auto Trap units have seen a recent spike in car burglaries involving Dodge cars. Detectives believe the cars are a popular item because it's easy for a thief to break the ignition and hotwire the car.

"The reason we were in the area first off is we've had a number of Dodge Intrepids that have been stolen. This particular car was an Intrepid," Sheriff Demings said.

Sources told Eyewitness News the Auto Trap unit was driving in the Pine Hills area looking for stolen cars when it got behind the gold Dodge Intrepid on Thursday. The deputies have a hot sheet that lists cars that were recently stolen. When the deputy ran the plate, there was a hit. The car had just been stolen a couple of days ago.

"They set up undercover surveillance and apprehended the suspect," Sheriff Demings said.

The sheriff says he's working on cleaning up the crime-filled area. They have been trying to clean up in the area for a while. There have been 645 crimes reported in the area since last July.