Felled Officer a Top Athlete Who Wed High School Sweetheart

Four days after he was shot in the forehead, Jerry Hartless, a rookie San Diego police officer who friends and fellow patrolmen say excelled at all of life’s endeavors, continued to lie in critical condition on life-support systems in the intensive-care unit of UC San Diego Medical Center.

Police and the district attorney’s office said they expect to bring attempted-murder charges today against a 24-year-old Southeast San Diego man who in the past has used three aliases, amassed a series of criminal convictions and served two back-to-back terms inside the California prison system.

Stacy Don Butler of the 5000 block of Solola Avenue was being held Tuesday in County Jail on suspicion of a parole violation, having been released from prison just 11 days before the shooting of the police officer early Saturday morning.

Butler was arrested just minutes after the shooting in the back bedroom of what police described as a known drug house in the 5000 block of La Paz Drive, about three blocks from the shooting scene.

Two guns were later found in the yard of that home and Lt. Phil Jarvis said those weapons were undergoing ballistics tests to determine whether they were used in the shooting of the 24-year-old officer.

Hartless, a former high school track star and art student from a small town in Michigan, joined the San Diego police force after graduating in May from the Police Academy, where he took top honors for physical achievement.

Known for his speed as a runner both on the high school track and at the police academy, Hartless was chasing a group of suspects near the 4900 block of Manomet Street when, his service revolver still strapped in his holster, he was shot once just above the right eye.

Jarvis said it is unclear how close Hartless was to reaching the fleeing men when he was shot, but Hartless’ former high school track coach in Hillsdale, Mich., said that “knowing Jerry,” the officer was probably gaining on the suspects when he was shot.

“I can imagine he’d be a lot faster than any average person on the street,” coach Bill Tefft said.

Police Chief Bill Kolender visited the officer and his family Tuesday at the UC San Diego Medical Center. Pat JaCoby, a medical center spokeswoman, said the officer remains in critical condition. The bullet, believed fired from a .22-caliber handgun, was still lodged in his brain.

“At this time, no more operations are planned,” JaCoby said.

Kolender and Cmdr. Keith Enerson, a police spokesman, said Hartless was placed in a drug-induced coma designed to reduce swelling in his brain. Enerson said it is his understanding that it will be difficult to determine how much brain damage the officer has suffered until the brain swelling subsides and more tests can be performed.

“After a period of time, they can take him off of the drugs and then get a reading on his true condition,” Enerson said.

Kolender, in a videotaped message played to patrol officers during routine lineups Monday night and Tuesday, told the men that Hartless’ condition was “not very good.”

“I am overcome with the tragedy of this situation,” the chief said. “I love this job, but I hate times when I have to do this part of it. When something like this occurs, we are all diminished.”

According to police, the shooting occurred about 12:20 a.m. Saturday. Hartless and his partner, Officer Johan Schneider, were on routine patrol when they approached a group of men for a field interview in the 400 block of South Gloria Street. The officers stepped out of their patrol car, the men began running away, and the officers chased them on foot.

Schneider returned to the patrol car, planning to continue the chase in the car. When he reached the end of Manomet Street where it abuts an open field, he found Hartless lying on the ground, bleeding from the head.

Ileather Redford, who lives next to the field, said she and her family heard the gunshot, then saw Schneider arrive out front and heard him yelling, “Don’t die, Jerry! Don’t die!”

“It scared me,” she said. “It scared the daylights out of me. I got nervous and scared.”

She said that as more officers arrived, two of them searched her home for suspects but found none. When she learned the wounded officer was Hartless, she immediately recalled how he had recently been to her home to talk to her son about suspected drug dealers in the area.

“It’s terrible,” Redford said of the shooting. “Right in front of my door, too. That’s bad. I hated that.”

She and Roger Williams, another Manomet Street resident, said their immediate area is relatively peaceful, occupied by many older residents who have lived there a long time. But they said the surrounding area is being overtaken by drug dealers and gangs.

Residents in Area Buffeted

“We’re like an eye in the middle of a hurricane,” Williams said. “They walk back and forth through here, cutting across that field with their drugs and dragging it through our neighborhood.”

Jarvis said police have yet to find any witnesses to the shooting. “It was quite late at night,” he said. “No one has come forward.”

But police are seeking for questioning five other men who live in the area. They were identified as Freddie Lee Logan, 19; Richard Banks Jr., 17; Darryl Adam Bradshaw, 25; Kyle Winters, 23, and Steve Williams, 18.

Jarvis said that as the shooting call came in, several officers responded directly to the LaPaz drug house where Butler was arrested, rather than the crime scene itself. “The officers in the area know that house,” he said. “It’s apparently a source of a lot of police activity.”

He said it is “probably two minutes max, or a fast walk” from the shooting scene to the house where Butler was apprehended.

But Jarvis declined to discuss any evidence police may have obtained that links Butler to the shooting.

“We have several things that tie him to this, but I can’t talk about them,” he said.

Relatives of Butler’s at his home Tuesday declined to discuss the shooting or Butler’s recent release from prison.

Al Fillon, assistant regional administrator for the state Parole Office, said Butler was turned out Dec. 29 from the state prison at Ione. He said Butler’s prison sentence for grand theft was to have run until December, 1990, but he was released early for good behavior.

According to police, parole officials and court records, Butler was considered a known drug offender and street criminal who went by three aliases: Kevin Don Johnson, Steve Butler and Stacey Butler.

He was convicted in November, 1983, for possession of an illegal substance. He was sentenced to time served in the County Jail, placed on three years’ probation and ordered to register as a known drug offender.

In May, 1984, he was convicted of displaying a false ID to a police officer, a misdemeanor. Six months later he was convicted of being under the influence of a controlled substance, another misdemeanor. In March, 1985, he was convicted of vandalism. He remained free on probation.

Butler was convicted in January, 1986, of assault with a deadly weapon during an attempted gas station holdup. He was sent to state prison on a two-year sentence but was paroled early and charged in another robbery last February. He was convicted in July of grand theft, was ordered to serve 16 months and was sent to Ione.

He once again drew an early release, this time being paroled Dec. 29. “His time with us goes way back,” Fillon said. “He’s what we call a two-termer.”

In Hillsdale, Mich., Hartless’ critical condition has drawn an outpouring of concern and prayers among the 7,500 residents who remember him as an excellent art student and track star who married his high school sweetheart, a member of the girls’ track team.

Norman Bearman, Hartless’ art teacher at the local high school, recalled that Jerry was very creative, particularly in lettering and sign making.

“Whatever job he did, he did the best he ever could,” Bearman said.

Tefft, the track coach, said Hartless also worked for him for six years at his Christmas tree farm, trimming trees and loading trucks during harvest time.

“He worked harder than anyone,” Tefft said. “He’s a kid I’ve always really liked, and one I’ve also always admired.”

Broke School Records

Tefft said Hartless was a sprinter and long jumper and broke several school records. He said Hartless also dreamed of following his father in a career in the Marine Corps but an uncontrollable allergic reaction to bee strings cut short his service in the Marines.

Tefft said he remembered how Jerry was once stung by a bee at the tree farm and had to be rushed to a hospital for treatment before he went into severe shock. He said he later learned that Hartless was discharged from the Marines in San Diego because of a bee-sting incident.

“He looked at police work then as a similar career,” Tefft said.

Officer Ray Shay, who was Hartless’ training officer at the Police Academy, said Hartless beat out 87 students and won the physical achievement award in the academy’s 110th class for his skill and speed in sprinting and running an obstacle course.

“He had unlimited potential,” Shay said. “You could see he was really going to go places. He was going to be a good street cop.”

Kolender, in his videotape to the patrol officers, reminded them that Hartless “needs our personal support at this time.” He also cautioned them that “it is during times like this when emotions are very high that we can easily make mistakes.”

“Now is the time to remain cool,” he said. “Watch out for one another. We have had good training. We are competent and professional. Let our work show it.