Dream of New Life in the Sun Died in Hail of Police Bullets

Roger Bollinger was making a new life in California.

At 52, the Ohio native had taken an early retirement and left his lifelong home in Cincinnati in January to move to Redondo Beach. He bought a condominium near the beach.

His best friend since high school, Gary L. Taylor, lived just down the road in Rancho Palos Verdes. And in March, Bollinger’s ex-wife, Margaret, joined him in the condominium to attempt a reconciliation.

But retirement and the sunny California climate that Bollinger sought had left something lacking, Margaret Bollinger said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Bollinger died in a point-blank shoot-out with Redondo Beach police inside his condominium. Police said they believe that Bollinger shot and killed his old friend Taylor and was attempting to flee when officers broke down the door.

Officer Leonard Knott, wounded in the gun battle, remained in serious condition Wednesday at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Margaret Bollinger said from Cincinnati that her ex-husband had come to California full of hope.

“He looked forward to retirement,” she said. “But he missed working. He was depressed.

“My husband, I think, was having a nervous breakdown. We had been very concerned about him, and we had all been trying to get him help.”

Police investigators found that Bollinger had been a successful businessman in Cincinnati with no apparent criminal record.

“He was not the type to try and shoot it out with police,” said Redondo Beach Police Lt. John Nelson. “We think he just went off the deep end.”

Bollinger had not been violent in the past, and Margaret Bollinger said that she had no recollection of him ever fighting with Taylor.

Taylor, 52, had been counseling Bollinger, trying to bring him out of his depression, she said. Taylor “had been trying to help him, spending hours with him,” she said.

Margaret Bollinger said she had decided to return to Cincinnati, but she would not say why. A neighbor in Redondo Beach said Margaret Bollinger had reported that she missed friends and relatives in Ohio.

She began the three-day drive to her hometown Sept. 12. Her husband had planned to follow in a few days, she said. When she left, there were no signs of trouble between her ex-husband and Taylor, she said.

Ties between the two men ran deep. Taylor had served as an usher at the Bollingers’ wedding. When the Bollingers reunited in California, they had become close with Taylor and his wife, Angie.

“They were our best friends,” Margaret Bollinger said.

Bollinger had recently told friends and acquaintances that he intended to sell his condominium to Taylor, police said. He invited several neighbors to his house last weekend for a garage sale in preparation for his return to Ohio.

On Monday, the day before the shooting, Bollinger walked across the street from his home to ask about becoming a salesman at Classic Motors on Pacific Coast Highway, salesman Greg Peters said.

“This dude was spooky,” said Peters, 20.

Bollinger talked rapidly, and his shoulders twitched, Peters said.

Bollinger visited for most of the day at the dealership before the owner told him that he would not be hired because “he did not seem to fit in,” said Frank Usesi, another salesman at Classic Motors.

Lt. Nelson said Bollinger had apparently begun selling cars on his own from his condominium. He kept several of them parked on Francisca Avenue, the sedate street in front of his home.

Taylor was described to police as a businessman who owned real estate and other investments, Nelson said.

The killings were preceded Tuesday by a loud argument in the condominium about 1:30 p.m., neighbors told police. Moments later, gunshots rang out.

Four Redondo Beach officers responded to a call from neighbors. They pounded on the door and, when no one answered, kicked it down.

The officers found Taylor in the doorway with three gunshot wounds to the head.

When Officers Dave Taneman and Mark Rodina rushed down a stairway leading to the garage, Bollinger emerged from behind a door and fired once, Nelson said. The shot whistled by the two officers and hit Knott, who was standing at the top of the stairs covering his fellow officers, Nelson said.

Taneman and Rodina responded with 16 to 18 shots, several of which hit Bollinger, killing him, Nelson said.

Police have considered and rejected several motives, Nelson said.

“We don’t think it was over the condo,” Nelson said. “There is no indication of a love triangle or narcotics. Some sort of dispute escalated all the way to a homicide, but we haven’t been able to pin down what caused it.”

His colleagues carried Knott outside, laying him on the ground. Several large blood stains were still evident Wednesday on a walkway. Surgeons removed a .38-caliber slug from Knott’s neck Tuesday night, describing him as lucky because he showed no signs of paralysis.

Fellow officers described Knott as a popular and conscientious police officer who has worked in Redondo Beach for 13 years.

Knott, 40, is married and has three sons. He is a private pilot spends much of his free time flying on short excursions.

Knott’s jaw was broken by the gunshot and he cannot talk, but friends said he is conscious and alert.

Times staff writers George Stein and Janet Rae-Dupree contributed to this report.