Tarpon Springs,FL Officer Charles Kondek was responding to a call that is routine for the overnight patrol — a car stereo blaring at 2 a.m. It ended when the wanted ex-convict with the loud radio fired seven shots at the police officer, landing one just above his bullet-proof vest. Kondek, 45, a married father of six and 17-year veteran of the Tarpon Springs Police Department whom fellow officers called Charlie K, died a short time later. It was the first fatal shooting of a Tampa Bay area law enforcement officer in nearly four years. Investigators identified his shooter as 23-year-old Marco Antonio Parilla Jr., who was arrested after a car chase and is facing a charge of first-degree murder. Parilla, who has a lengthy criminal record that Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said includes 30 felony charges, was wanted for a probation violation and told investigators he didnt want to go back to prison. He said his reason for shooting the officer was because he felt like a caged rat, said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. Hes going back to prison, which is where he belongs. He had absolutely no reason to take a police officers life. Kondek had been a New York City police officer for five years before moving to Florida and joining Tarpons police force. The Kondek family lives in Pasco County, where his wife works for the Clerk of Courts office. Their youngest child is a 15-year-old daughter whose soccer games Kondek attended regularly. Charlie was just a great guy, a standout cop who came in every day and did his job, said Tarpon Springs police Chief Robert Kochen. He served most of his career on the midnight shift, away from his family, allowing citizens to sleep peacefully in their beds because he faced the danger for them. • • • Investigators say Kondek was shot shortly after 2 a.m. at Glens Eureka Apartments, a small building at 199 Grand Blvd. The location is just northeast of Spring Bayou, the site of Tarpon Springs annual Epiphany celebration in early January. Parilla, who got out of state prison last March, lived in one of the apartments until recently. According to the sheriff, Parilla left a party in Holiday on Sunday morning with a female friend and drove to the Tarpon Springs apartment building. He was looking for a former neighbor who he believed had dimed him out, according to Gualtieri, informing police about drug activity that led to probation violation charges. Once the two got there, a resident of the apartments called police to complain about loud music coming from the white Hyundai Elantra in which they had arrived. Parilla banged on the doors of his former neighbors. He was walking back to the Hyundai when he encountered Kondek. He saw the officer. He knew he was a convicted felon, knew he had a warrant out on him, knew he was going back to prison for a long time, Gualtieri said. The sheriff gave the following account of what happened next: Parilla emptied his .40-caliber handgun at Kondek, firing seven rounds. One bullet struck the officer in the upper chest near his neck and hit his spine. Kondek fired two gunshots at Parilla before collapsing. Parilla pulled his friend, Evelyn Santiago, out of the car. He got into the car and backed over Kondek. At that point, another resident of the apartment building, Jareem Roach, fired five rounds at the Hyundai, apparently believing that Parilla had been coming after him. Authorities were looking for Roach on Sunday. Parilla sped off. Other officers arrived to find Kondek unconscious and barely breathing. One performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Rachel Delk, one of the buildings residents, heard Parilla banging on doors, then heard numerous gunshots. When she looked outside, paramedics were working on the officer. It was very scary . . . its just kind of surreal, Delk said. You always see that kind of stuff on TV, not in front of your face. Kondek was rushed to Florida Hospital North Pinellas, where he died. Police officers chased Parilla in the Hyundai. It was closing time at the Sponge Docks bars, and Tarpon Springs resident Tommy Mahinis was standing in the street with friends by Zorbas Greek Nightclub at 508 Athens St. when he saw the white car barrelling down Athens. Tires screeching, the car rammed into a power pole at Athens and Cross streets in the citys Sponge Docks tourist district. The car fishtailed and plowed into the back of a Ford truck belonging to Mahinis friend. Seconds later, the man inside opened the door and darted away. Mahinis said his instinct was to chase him. I had no idea what he had just done, but you hit my buddys brand new truck and youre gonna get it, he said. Mahinis followed the man up Athens and watched him turn left on Cross Street. Almost immediately, uniformed officers funneled in beside him. They found the man hiding beneath a wooden staircase and seized him, Mahinis said. He kept lipping off, Mahinis said. • • • Parilla served a three-year sentence for charges including selling cocaine and marijuana, trafficking in stolen property and leaving the scene of a crash involving an injury before he was released in March, according to Florida corrections records. He previously lived in Tampa and Gibsonton and was arrested in Hillsborough County five times on numerous felony charges from 2009 to 2011 before landing prison, according to jail records. As he was being led into the Pinellas County Jail, Parilla told reporters, I apologize to the family. That was not my intention. The sheriff scoffed at that. Its all a bunch of nonsense, Gualtieri said. This guy knew what he was doing. He killed a cop, and he needs to be held accountable for that. Kondeks death is the first fatal shooting of a Tarpon Springs police officer in the line of duty since 1926, said Joe Vockerichian, executive director of the Gold Shield Foundation, a charity that assists the families of officers killed on duty. The last time a Tarpon officer died while on duty was in an automobile accident in 1969, he said. St. Petersburg police Officer David Crawford was the most recent law enforcement officer shot to death in the Tampa Bay area when he was killed by a teenager he was trying to question in February 2011. • • • As a crime scene technician photographed the scene of the shooting, Kondeks equipment lay scattered on the street, including a service revolver, bulletproof vest and police radio. The sheriff and police chief met with Kondeks family. At the Tarpon Springs police station Sunday, residents dropped off bouquets of flowers to memorialize Kondek. Rickie and Carolyn Barnes, who live near the crime scene, were jolted awake early Sunday by the piercing crack of gunshots, then the sound of tires squealing. Sirens blared and helicopters circled for nearly an hour. The scene is familiar to them. They walk that street every day. Its just quiet and friendly. The neighbors are great, Carolyn said. Its just hard to believe.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 04:17:37 +0000
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