Teen held in heart-attack death of deputy

Palm Beach Post ^ | April 2, 2002 | Susan Spencer-Wendel

[Pern]

WEST PALM BEACH -- A teenager who faces a murder charge in the heart attack death of a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy is being kept in juvenile detention after his first appearance before a judge Monday morning.

On Sunday, William Robert Waters Jr., rushed at deputies after they found the 17-year-old Lake Worth High School sophomore lying on the ground at the Casa Del Monte trailer park, according to reports.

The deputies, including Donald Lee Schavolt, 48, were investigating a loud music complaint when Waters kicked Schavolt in the leg. Schavolt later collapsed and died at Wellington Regional Medical Center, apparently suffering a massive heart attack.

There is no word yet on whether the State Attorney's Office will charge Waters as an adult.

Authorities said they have no choice but to charge the teen with second-degree murder. Waters committed a felony -- resisting arrest with violence -- that resulted in Schavolt's death, a sheriff's spokesman said Sunday. Waters could face life in prison.

Read the full story in tomorrow's Palm Beach Post or online at PalmBeachPost.com.

[eno_]

So I am sure you can cite the cases where cops are up for murder. Gee, I'm certain the FBI agent who shot that kid in the face... oh, wait... Horiuchi? Hmmm... nope... The black preacher who had a heart attack in Boston after a botched raid on the wrong house... are those cops doing time for murder? Were they arrested for it? Indicted even? Poobah? Can you help me out here? I'm sure there is no double standard... I must be just missing all those cases of justice actually being delivered to cops.

[eno_]

Quite so, a kick in the chest can stop your heart. A kick in the leg can make you mad so the Krispy Kremes kill you cuz your arteries done squoze up. Who here seriously thinks the cop did not turn red in the face from apoplexy and was ready to administer a whoopin'?

Those Krispey Kremes taste soooo good they MUST be made with tallow or something else equally baaaaad. Two a day will do ya quicker than a serious Jack Daniels and Marlboro habit.

[jude24]

They can charge him with anything they want to, but they have to prove his attack was the cause of the police officer's death. The medical examiner should be able to answer that one. Even if it were nothing more than panic from being kicked in the leg, thats still at least 2nd degree manslaughter.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Take a look at those faces. Take a long hard look. Think of them and their families. These are just a couple of the 72 police officers that lost their lives saving others on September 11. These are the brave men and women who gave their lives. These are men and women who would have saved YOUR life if given the chance. They weren't eating donoughts and looking for seatbelts that weren't fastened. They were making sure that other people could live in the face of terror.

None of these men or women pictured ever went home. They are all dead. Think about them the next time you say that cops are on the take and tell me if you would get up every morning knowing you could die saving a stranger.

[Hank Rearden]

the list is virtually endless..but what good do they do??

Well, if you're not armed and determined to defend yourself, they (eventually) show up, scribble a report about how you died and draw a chalk outline around you.

Your point about the stupid harassment, via stupid laws, by petty tyrants is well taken. Cops need to be confined to doing useful things, like keeping bad guys sweating and worried. Deterrence is 80% of their role.

[eno_]

So what is in poorer taste:

People like me making fun of donut fed cops?

Or people like you using the memory of heros to obscure the fact that most police work is revenue raising traffic stops, some of which invovles the cops literally being pimped out by their departments to the LIDAR company they are splitting the revenue with, and that most fatalities among cops come from stepping backward into traffic while being pimped out to the LIDAR company to make your quota?

There are real reasons cops deserve respect. The problem is there are MANY MANY reasons they piss away the respect they should be getting. And who's fault is that?

[eno_]

Cops need to be confined to doing useful things, like keeping bad guys sweating and worried. Deterrence is 80% of their role.

I don't know about the deterrence part. If they would simply clear out their backlog of arrest warrants for theft and robbery, and bring their solution rate for property crimes up to a not-laughable level, I'd be happy with that. Let the three srikes law handle the deterrence (or the consequences).

[Pern]

True, the cops that died in the WTC were true heros, but they were doing their job. No one made them go. Of course it's a tragedy that so many families are without their loved ones. That's not the point of me posting this article. I posted it to point out the double-standards that we have to put up with. In America there is supposed to be 'Equality under the Law'. That should apply to ALL citizens, not an upperclass of politicians and their protectors, Law Enforcement Officers.

Like I've stated on many posts, one rule applies to all. Once there is an established 'Upper Class' that thinks it can rule ordinary citizens, where will the atrocities stop? And easy answer, they won't.

[Pern]

Also, I've served 8 years in the US Navy, so in essence for 8 years I did wake up every morning knowing that I could be called out to the latest trouble spot and put my life on the line to defend this country. Which did happen during DS/DS in 1991. I spent 8 month's in the desert and aboard ships in the Persian Gulf, waiting for a Scud missle to drop through my tent or an Exocet to sink the ship I was on. I've 'walked a mile in their shoes.'

[Sandy]

They are all dead...

...which is exactly why they have absolutely nothing to do with this thread. Doh.

[RangeRatt]

another DS Vet! Hail, Brother!

[Pern]

Greetings, Brother. I like it when people make comments implying that I'm not worthy to criticize our govt. and LEO's. People like you and I have served our country faithfully. Well, if you or I can't make negative comments, then who can?

[Poohbah]

It's been my experience that those who show such malice towards ALL cops are generally those who are only one casual LEO encounter away from being Spike's woman cellmate.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"If this were to happen to joe citizen, it would have been written off as an unfortunate accident, "

See post # 11.

[eno_]

It's been my experience that those who show such malice towards ALL cops are generally those who are only one casual LEO encounter away from being Spike's woman cellmate.

Cops stupid? Why would anyone think that? With deathless prose like the above, it shows they are all poets in blue. Philosophers with mace. To see the conversation here elevated thusly, we are humbled. Any lack of direct refutation of sloth, corruption, and double standards is, of course, merely an oversight that will be corrected with blazing brilliance. Any... moment... now...

[Baseballguy]

Is this not about intent? We can play the what if game all day. What was the cop doing to provoke the kid? What did the kid do to have the cop after him? It was music, where is this taking place in someones home?

People are people and because your a cop or a teen gives no excuses on your actions.

[Movemout]

Sometimes you take a reasonable position. Implying that being being Spike's woman is a natural outcome of an adverserial encounter with the police, whether warranted or not, is not a reasonable position.

I truly support our LEOs but I will not countenance misbehavior on their part nor on my own. The brotherhood that died on 9/11 were doing what they were supposed to do, Protect and Serve. I spent 20 years in the US Army so I can identify with another poster above who said you might wonder what your fate might be on any given day.

If this perp can be proven to have contributed to this officer's death in a collateral manner then he should be prosecuted that way. If it is more direct then more power to the DA.

Contribute an opinion instead jerking a knee.