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Officer’s Career-Ending Injury Leads to Pension ChangesFrom the moment you first pin on the badge as a Tampa Police Officer, the Fire & Police Pension covers you in the event of a line of duty injuries or death. But, it has not always been that way. Prior to 1969, Officers had to be on the job six months before they were protected by the pension. That all changed following a violent encounter with a burglar. In the early morning hours of Christmas Day 1968, 24-year old Officer Alvin Wade Vanzant and 25-year old rookie Officer George Allen Armstrong were assigned to the Patrol Division riding unit ‘113’ in police car number 2. At 3:40 a.m. that morning, Officers Vanzant and Armstrong were traveling east on E. Hillsborough Avenue when they spotted a 1966 orange colored Chevy Van traveling west at a slow speed with only the parking lights on. Vanzant and Armstrong decided to conduct a traffic stop on the Perez Plumbing van. With the van stopped in front 1042 E. Hillsborough Avenue, the driver identified himself with a driver’s license as 22-year old Nelson Joseph Anello. He told the officers’ he worked for Perez Plumbing and was “on a late call”. The driver even told the officers to call Perez Plumbing to verify his identity. The officers decided to do a routine check on the van and driver before cutting him loose. Unknown to the officers at the time, the driver was, in fact, a two-time loser named William Brown who was recently out of prison for Burglary and Grand Larceny. Brown had spent Christmas Eve downtown drinking before walking to Perez Plumbing located on N. Armenia Avenue. Once there, Brown (a.k.a. Anello) broke into the business and stole the van, checks, and a nine-shot 22. Caliber, blue steel revolver with a shoulder holster, which he was still wearing at the time of the traffic stop. Officer Vanzant was already back in the driver’s seat of the 1968 Chevy Police car, when Armstrong put Brown into the back seat that cold Christmas morning. As the convicted felon sat in the back seat behind the two officers, he became nervous that the officers would discover his true identity and the break-in at Perez Plumbing. Brown did not want to go back to prison. When radio advised the two officers of an arrest warrant on a w/m Nelson Anello for No Valid Drivers License, Brown pulled the revolver from under his trench coat and told the officers “Now you’ve done it.” At gunpoint, Brown then ordered them to stay off the radio and drive. Brown told the officers that he was wanted for murder in New York. He was not wanted, but would later tell detectives that he “wanted to scare the officers”. As they traveled west on Hillsborough, he ordered Vanzant to turn south on Seminole Avenue, but right before East Giddens Avenue, Brown ordered them to stop. In the next few terrifying moments, Brown told the two police officers to turn off the lights and announced that he had nothing to lose - he was going to kill them. Vanzant put his left hand on the door handle waiting for the moment to make his escape. Since this happened before cages separated prisoners from officers, Brown sat in the back seat with the blue steel 9-shot revolver pointed at the two lawmen. The first shot exploded the stillness of the morning. It struck the upper left back of officer Armstrong, who managed to return fire with one shot before Brown’s second shot struck him square in the back of the neck. Vanzant was shot three times as he rolled out of the squad car. He was hit in the middle of the back and once in each shoulder. As Vanzant lay wounded twenty feet from his partner, he fired all six shots of his revolver at Brown as he fled from the patrol car on foot. George Kiner was awakened that Christmas by the sounds of gunshots outside his home at 5302 N. Seminole Avenue. As Kiner went outside to investigate, he found the two badly wounded officers. Kiner quickly grabbed a blanket to comfort officer Vanzant from the bitter cold and urged his wife to call for help. Kiner then got on the police radio in the car and alerted officers of the shooting. Brown managed to run for a couple of blocks before collapsing at N. Florida Avenue just south of Giddens from gunshot wounds to his right arm and buttock. Two more rounds grazed his side and calf. As Brown fell, responding officers arrived and found the revolver less than a foot from his hand. George Allen Armstrong never walked again after putting Brown in the backseat that fateful day. The gunshots he sustained to the back and neck left him paralyzed from the chest down. Doctors told Armstrong’s family to be prepared, as victims of this type of paralysis have a life expectancy of about 3 years. Officer Alvin Vanzant managed to return to the street but after six years of service retired in 1971 due to the injuries he suffered from the shooting and from other violent encounters he had with suspects during his time on the job. Al Vanzant had been one of the signers of the original ‘pension’ contract. It has since grown to a billion dollars in value. After retiring, Vanzant traveled for two years before returning to Tampa where he continues to work in a family owned business. William Brown survived the shooting and on March 6th, 1969 three months after the violent encounter, he pleaded guilty to two counts of Assault to Murder, Burglary, Grand Theft Auto and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Brown was sent back to prison. He served less than 15 years for permanently injuring two Tampa Police Officers. With less than six months on the job at the time of the shooting, Armstrong was not yet covered under the City Fire & Police Pension despite the catastrophic injury he suffered on duty as a Tampa Police Officer. Armstrong and wife were left with no pension, no other source of income, and a tremendously difficult future at best. In 1969, the Tampa City Council awarded a small monthly stipend to Officer George Armstrong after recognizing he had no coverage in the pension plan. The stipend was meager, but it was at least something. Shortly after coming home from the hospital, Armstrong’s marriage fell apart and the disabled officer’s parents took him home to Ohio where they could care for him. Armstrong outlived his doctor’s 3-year prognosis. He lived another 36 years after the shooting. He was wheelchair bound, but years later managed to drive a van outfitted with handicap controls. His family says that George made the best out of the life he had been given and he always tried to maintain a positive outlook. George Allen Armstrong died from cancer in July 2004 in St. Mary’s, Ohio. As a result of that fateful Christmas morning, the Fire and Police Pension Board voted in 1969 to change the date of coverage for all newly hired Tampa Police Officers. Officers who came on the job after 1969 were covered from the time they were sworn in as a Tampa Police Officer. As generations of officers come and go, let us remember the moments of valor and terror in the encounters with criminals while protecting the public. Over time, the memory of officers Vanzant and Armstrong may have faded, but the change brought about by their suffering is still alive and well. The officers who have followed can look back and be grateful for the service of these two officers. As a result of George Armstrong’s service and sacrifice, every officer since 1969 has been covered by pension benefits from the moment they have pinned on the badge. |
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