KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- This afternoon's sentencing of a St. Cloud man who tried to kill two cops in 2011 with an AK-47 will have an unusual number of law enforcement officers present.
Not for courtroom security -- but to stand in solidarity with St. Cloud Detective Clinton Wise and Officer Spencer Endsley who narrowly escaped death when David Penney opened fire on them two years ago.
One round from the teen's AK-47 hit Wise in the foot. Three more rounds passed within in an inch of Endsley's head. Glass from their patrol car's windshield sprayed Endsley's arms, hand, face and an eye.
Cops and deputies across Osceola County are upset that the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office negotiated a plea bargain with Penney, dropping attempted murder and all gun-related charges with mandatory minimum sentences under the state's 10-20-Life law, according to interviews.
Penney, now 20, could receive as little as eight years in prison and as much as 55 years.
"There'll be a strong presence from the St. Cloud police department and other agencies," said Police Chief Peter Gauntlett, who will be the first of three officers to speak at the 3 p.m. sentencing before Circuit Judge Jon B. Morgan rules in the Nov. 21, 2011 shooting. "We'll make a series of strong statements and see what happens."
The others officers will be Wise, speaking for himself and Endsley, and Det. Curtis Wesler who investigated the case.
Many officers feel thatt he ambush on law enforcement has been "minimized" by the plea bargain, Gauntlett said. "But we are patiently awaiting the sentencing to see what Judge Morgan sentences David Penney to."
Shortly before 2 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2011, Penney, then 18, armed himself with two AK-47's bought at a local gun show and about 150 rounds of ammunition in high-capacity magazines.
No one has ever explained why, but the teen then stood outside a home on Alabama Avenue and began shooting into the outside wall of a home where a young man lived who had allegedly damaged Penney's car.
Turning his attention to a car outside the home, Penny shot at it before spraying the neighborhood with about 100 rounds. Nine of those were fired into the windshield and right side door of the patrol car Wise and Endsley used to respond to multiple 911 calls.
Penney turned the weapon on himself -- firing a round upward under his chin that blew apart his face, but didn't kill him.
The police investigation showed Penney had been a collector of toy guns since early childhood and began buying real ones upon turning 18. His mother also told police he suffered from Asperger's Syndrome. He also left a five-page manifesto entitled, "Why I left" to explain his anger at society and his planned suicide.
Last November, Penney's lawyer, Warren W. Lindsey of Winter Park, notified the court that he intended to rely on an insanity defense.
Two months ago, State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton said the plea bargain best served the public interest, saying undisclosed information about Penney's mental health convinced his staff not to take the case to trial. He said that information will become public at today's sentencing when prosecution witnesses and defense experts testify.
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