True Police Stories

"Courage is the ability to move; when all around you are frozen in fear
and no one would blame you if you did nothing at all." Capt. Click. Phx. PD

My Name is Brock Bevell

                       "Aggressive man killed by Officers."
                                             "Police forced to kill suicidal man."
                                                                    "Police chase ends in shooting."

The papers had a version of the story and other people had theirs. For example, the local papers read: "Police tried. Threw their whole non-lethal arsenal at an armed suspect. Stop sticks. Pepper spray. Bean-bag gun. A police dog, Even a stun-gun." It would have been weirdly comic, if it hadn't ended so tragically for an apparently suicidal, knife wielding, Mesa man who eluded a traffic stop, then set Mesa officers on a wild ride through town before he was shot as a last resort.

The stop sticks blew out a tire, but the subject kept driving, police say. The bean-bags didn't drop him. Neither did the stun-gun which couldn't make direct contact through his jacket. The police dog was sent twice. Twice it grabbed onto the suspect. And twice it did exactly what a police dog is trained to do: if the suspect doesn't resist, let go and return to your master. Then, police say, the suspect got into his pickup truck and drove directly at officers.

The time for non-lethal weapons was over.

As you know, there are always two sides of the story. In a nutshell, this is what happened. At least, in the public's point of view. But I want to explain it from my point of view. The officer, a Latter-day Saint. I hope and pray as you read this, you will feel as I did. Now that you know the end of the story, allow me to share with you my testimony of a loving Father in Heaven and Savior of the world.

It was December 27th, 2002. It was a rather calm night and I was on a routine call, when I heard a "hot-tone" come over the radio. Dispatch advised two available units to "go to channel five." Channel five is the designated channel for serious emergency calls. Of course, I turned my radio to channel five to hear what the commotion was all about. As I listened to the radio traffic, I heard an officer saying that he was attempting to pull a vehicle over and the driver refused to stop. The officer indicated that he was at Mesa Drive and US 60. At this point, I was approximately fifteen miles away from the incident. I thought to myself, "Maybe I should head that way?" But as the thought entered my mind, I heard approximately ten officers say that they were in route. So, I disregarded the call.

Oh how I was mistaken.

Approximately ten minutes later, the pursuit entered my district. At this time, dispatch asked if there were any certified AR-15 officers available to assist with the call. I advised dispatch that I was certified and that I was in route to the call. I turned my vehicle around and headed north on 80th Street to Brown. As I was preparing to make my left turn onto Brown, I felt compelled to come to a complete stop. As we all know, when an officer is in route to a serious call, he/she usually breaks every title 28-code [traffic laws] in the book. As I came to a complete stop, I observed a second patrol unit making a left hand turn onto 80th from Brown. As he made the turn, he came within inches of sending me to the spirit world. He never saw me. (He later apologized.) Comments on the case indicated that the subject was waving a gun out the window, saying that he was going to kill anyone who tried to stop him.

                            The subject called dispatch and told her to
                                     "back off the officers" or he was "going to kill them."

I first saw the suspect's vehicle at Power and Brown and decided that due to the comments on the case, I needed to keep my distance. There were also three or four patrol cars behind him. I decided to parallel the vehicle from one major street to the south. This continued for approximately five miles when I felt a strong  impression to stop my vehicle and make my AR-15 combat ready. In Mesa, we do not have the means to carry our AR-15's in the front seat. We have them in the trunk in a case with additional rounds and magazines. I listened to the prompting and pulled my vehicle over. I exited the vehicle and walked to the trunk and removed my AR-15. I placed a round in the chamber and placed the gun on ready. I placed the rifle in the front passengers seat and re-entered the vehicle. With the AR-15 in the front seat next to me, I continued west and attempted to catch the pursuit.

At this time, officers advised that they had the subject stopped in a cul-de-sac. When I arrived, I removed my AR-15 and ran to a position of cover. I noticed that I was the fourth officer on scene and that the subject was in the vehicle. I took up a position in the center vehicle. My rifle rested between the door and my eyes never left the subject. As I sat there with my finger along side the frame of the rifle, I observed the following unfold.

The subject exited the vehicle, was shot four times in the chest by a non-lethal bean-bag rifle.

A chemical agent was sprayed into the face of the subject with no effect.

He was tazered on two separate occasions.

A police K-9 bit the subject in the leg in three different spots.

As I sat in the patrol car doorway, I had an extremely personal experience. I do not share this experience with many people because of the sacredness of it. Remember that this subject had no escape route. He was totally boxed in by three police cars and approximately 40-50 officers. He entered the vehicle and placed it in drive. The vehicle I was positioned in was directly in front of his. As he came toward me, time slowed down. I can remember intimate details of the event. The intimate details are what I find extremely sacred to me in my life. It was at this point of my life that I felt the Savior's hand close by.

                      The subject placed the vehicle in drive and came toward us.
             It was at this point that I had to make the decision to shoot or not shoot.

As the vehicle came closer to me, I felt an extreme peace in my body. My senses were at high alert, my sight was better than ever and I felt a peace come over me like none I have ever felt before. I know that training and experience played a huge role in the shooting, but I can tell you without a doubt that I was blessed to have the Holy Spirit present.

               As I pulled the trigger, feelings of peace came over my body.
         My body felt relaxed and fear left. I know that if I had not pulled the trigger,
                        he would have run over me and the other officers standing by my side.

I have looked back on that night and I bear testimony of the love of our God. He is with us at all times if we stand worthy to receive Him. The Lord has promised that if we keep the commandments, we will be blessed. The Lord stands by His promise.

I bear sacred testimony that I know that God lives. I know that He is real. I know that He cares for each and every one of us. I know that our lives are important to Him.

Why else would He search for the 1 ...when He already has the 99?

Retired Officer Brock Bevell.

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