Feb. 9--After six days of hunting a fugitive who assaulted an Orange County deputy last weekend, undercover officers were closing in Thursday afternoon, following a black, four-door sedan in the Rosemont neighborhood.
Suddenly, the car pulled over, flashed its lights and flagged down the sheriff's "felony squad" trackers that were following. The occupants asked if deputies were looking for "Malik," an acquaintance who was at the nearby home they were renting.
"The passenger handed deputies the keys to his house," said Orange County sheriff's Capt. Lee Massie, who oversees the unit's operations. "He said him, his wife and kid are inside. He said, 'I want you to get him before my kids get home.' "
That final piece of the puzzle led an army of deputies and officers from numerous other local, state and federal agencies to Malik Stephenson, 34, a career criminal suspected in the beating and attempted murder of Deputy GayleCadiz on Feb. 2.
On Friday, several sheriff's investigators interviewed by the Sentinel detailed a massive probe pieced together by tedious police work by dozens of officers and analysts. They also credited a key citizen tip, a $10,000 reward, a fingerprint match, an alleged written confession to the Cadiz attack, calming hostage negotiators and just plain luck.
It all ended with Stephenson and his wife, Nina, both of Orlando, surrendering to deputies late Thursday afternoon after a tense, two-hour standoff. No one was injured.
Sheriff Kevin Beary called the operation "perfect."
On Friday, an Orange County judge denied bail for the couple and appointed public defenders for them. Both face attempted-murder and other charges.
As 10 deputies approached the home on the 5200 block ofSignal Hill Road in northwest Orlando and ordered Stephenson to come out with his hands up, he replied: "Come inside and get me! Come in and get me!" said felony squad Sgt. Bruce Vail.
A shot flew out a window near the front door.
"We never got near the front door," Vail said.
Sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Ela, a member of a nine-man unit that tracks vehicle thefts, sped his truck up the driveway to block the closed garage door and any vehicles inside. He took cover.
Four more shots exploded through the garage door where several deputies had gathered moments before, one hitting the truck shielding Ela.
"My wife is not happy about it," Ela said. "He's probably lucky she can't get her hands on him."
Meanwhile, a dozen sheriff's robbery detectives, who had been working nonstop on the Cadiz case along with numerous other agency units, were canvassing 250 owners of late-model, whiteMitsubishi Galants around Central Florida, looking for the vehicle seen speeding away from the Office Depot store where Cadiz was assaulted. She was confronting a shoplifting suspect who was thought to have stolen a $3 plastic floor mat.
A tip led detectives to someone who had loaned a vehicle to Stephenson. By early Thursday morning, robbery detectives found a home in Stoneybrook East in Orange County where the couple had lived. By early afternoon, they obtained a search warrant and found a note inside signed by Stephenson saying he was responsible for the Cadiz attack -- and that his wife had nothing to do with it, said robbery Sgt. Bill Hinkey.
"It was his fault and he didn't want to go back to prison," Hinkey said of the note.
During the search, Hinkey said, sheriff's fingerprint technicians phoned to say they matched Stephenson to a print lifted off the plastic floor mat recovered outside the Office Depot. Stephenson's criminal record -- and other witnesses familiar with him -- led detectives to think he was capable of killing his wife and son to avoid capture, Hinkey said.
After the shooting started, 30 sheriff's SWAT team officers took up positions around the home. Sheriff's hostage negotiator Marcel Caron began almost nonstop telephone conversations with the Stephensons, who said they were huddled in a bathroom and passing the phone to each other.
Stephenson initially told deputies he would kill his wife, baby and anyone else if they tried to enter the home, said Capt. Al Rodrigues, head of the negotiators' unit.
Deputies backed off while Caron and a team of negotiators brainstormed inside a special sheriff's trailer down the street. They heard Stephenson talk about his son, who turned 1 year old Thursday, about changing his diaper and making him a bottle during the siege. He also talked about his fear of returning to prison. Caron reminded him that his son eventually would learn of Thursday's outcome in the years to come.
About an hour into the standoff, Stephenson said he would send his wife, baby and gun out at 4:45 p.m. After cracking the door several minutes later and closing it, the three emerged without incident.
Rodrigues said Caron met with Stephenson before he was taken from the scene and said: "You did the right thing."
Jim Leusner can be reached at jleusner@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5411.
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