Danielle Maudsley is breathing on her own, but she can't walk or talk
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Seminole, Florida - The Florida Highway Patrol trooper who
shot and injured a cemetery owner on September 10, 2012
has been cleared of any wrongdoing by FHP.
Shortly before 6 o'clock on the morning of September 10, 2012,
Trooper Daniel Cole was tracking a stolen motorcycle to the Royal Palm
North cemetery in Pinellas Park at 2600 Gandy Boulevard North.
The owner of the cemetery, Cliff Work, was there and after he
armed himself -- thinking he was being robbed -- Trooper Cole opened
fire, shooting 18 rounds from his Smith & Wesson AR-15
semiautomatic rifle. Work was hit in the leg.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement also investigated
and cleared Cole last fall. As for the stolen motorcycle,
it was dumped in a wooded area next to the cemetery and Work had no
idea it was there.
But that incident isn't the first time Cole's actions have come
under the microscope. In just over a decade, he shot an unarmed
minister during a traffic stop as the pastor reached for his own wallet.
He also tasered an unarmed teenage girl who was handcuffed.
That incident has left her in a vegetative state.
Her mother, Cheryl Maudsley, is completely stunned that Trooper
Cole still has a job with the Florida Highway Patrol. She believes
he took her daughter Danielle's life.
She says, "My daughter is going to die because of Officer Cole."
Dash cam video shows the 19-year-old handcuffed and running away from Cole.
Photo Gallery: Dash cam images of woman's Tasing
He fires his taser at her back and hits her. Danielle's head hits the pavement.
Her mother says, "She was afraid. He had to step back to pull
his taser at my child... 50,000 volts went through a 92-pound girl,
handcuffed [and] a couple of feet away from him."
Two years later, the photographs show a much
different Danielle. Now 21, she is blind, unable to walk,
has a feeding tube and wears diapers at a rehabilitation facility in
Orlando.
Cheryl says, "At this time, she's not doing well. We recently put a DNR on her, which is 'do not resuscitate.'"
Cheryl says she put the order in just a few days
ago and knows any day now she could get a phone call that her
daughter is gone.
She adds, "Dear Lord knows it just breaks my heart. I wonder
how he [Trooper Cole] would feel if it was one of his children, his
mother, his sister. Him. You're not above the law, because you have a
badge."
10 News stopped by Trooper Cole's home on Friday as we have several
times before to get his side of the story, but this time his cruiser
wasn't parked in his driveway and though it appeared someone was inside,
no one answered the door.
But in audio published by the FHP and posted on YouTube, an
investigator can be heard questioning Trooper Cole. While
the video clearly shows Danielle is barely a step ahead of
him as they leave the FHP substation in Pinellas Park on U.S. 19,
he's already had time to pull and point his taser.
He tells the investigator that Danielle would have gotten
away. The investigator asks, "Did you think she was capable of
outrunning you?"
Cole replies, "Yes, she was already outrunning me."
More Daniel Cole stories:
Tammie Fields, 10 News
