Retired police commander SWAT testified Thursday that he shot and killed a man in a movie theater eight years ago. Control people who “look like monsters”.
Curty Sleeves, a 79-year-old former Tampa police captain, said he shot 43-year-old Chad Oulson on January 13, 2014. About the use of Ulson’s mobile phone during the preview.
Reeves, who testified in Pasco County, north of Tampa, said he fired a .380 pistol because he believed he had no other choice. He said something hit his face. He believes it was an Allson cell phone. Prosecutors say the video shows Allson grabbed a Reeves popcorn bag from his lap and threw it at him.
“He was far above me and full of anger, so he intended to attack me. I thought this was the end for me,” he said. Reeves, who faces life imprisonment, said he was convicted of a second murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
Ulson’s widow, Nicole Ulson, glared at Reeves throughout the testimony and shook slightly back and forth. Her fingers were almost cut off by the bullet that killed her husband when she tried to sit him, she testified that he had never heard a curse at Reeves before. She said she started discussions when Reeves checked their 22-month-old daughter in day care because she ordered her husband to clean up his cell phone. Another witness testified that after firing the shot, Reeves muttered, “Throw popcorn on my face.”
His defense evoked Florida’s “standing in your position.” It allows the use of deadly forces in the face of fatal danger or fear of serious injury, but it was rejected by Circuit Judge Susan Bursle. Since the shooting, Reeves has been largely under house arrest due to delays in trials due to his lawyer’s allegations and a COVID-19 pandemic.
Under cross-examination by lawyer Richard Escobar, Reeves testified Thursday that he and his wife Vivian arrived early to watch the Afghan war movie “Lone Survivor,” sitting in the back row. Olsons was sitting in a row just to the right of Reeves.
Dressed in a gray suit and speaking in a clear, calm voice, Reeves asked him to politely place his cell phone as it was shining when the preview began. He said Allson cursed him and refused. Reeves said he wasn’t angry when he faced the jury on a regular basis as police officers were trained, but he decided to head to the lobby and report Allson to his manager.
After he returned to his seat, he said Allson seemed to stare at him and speak loudly to his wife or the general audience. Reeves told Allson that he wouldn’t have involved the manager if he knew he was going to get rid of his cell phone, and he “tried to break through the situation.”
He said he turned his back, but when he looked back at Allson’s standing up, he saw a reflection and something hit him in his glasses and knocked them diagonally. He believes Allson threw his cell phone because he was found on the floor at Reeves’ feet.
Mr. Reeves said Mr. Allson stood on him and “screamed a lot of blasphemous words and intimidation.”
“F-word was like his main vocabulary,” Reeves said, using the word as part of a threat to defeat him. “He is very unstable and active. He is about to cross his seat.
“I’m looking up at this guy, and he looked like a monster,” Reeves said. Nicole Ulson tried to detain her husband, but Chad Ulson seemed ready to attack, he said.
“I was completely defenseless,” Reeves said. “I have never met anyone who shows that amount of uncontrolled anger and anger.”
He pulled the gun out of his pocket and fired it once, causing a fatal blow to his chest. A sheriff’s agent arrived and arrested Reeves.
Reeves appeared unconfident under the cross-examination by Prosecutor Scott Rosenwasser and often struggled to understand and answer the question.
Rosenwasser reiterated that he wasn’t as debilitating as Reeves claimed, pointing out that he went on an archery hunting trip shortly before shooting and walked uphill to climb a tree 10 feet (3 meters).
Reeves also admitted that he couldn’t shoot anyone who just threw a harmless item and rejected his wife’s proposal to leave Allsons.
Rosenwasser spent a considerable amount of time watching a security video shot by Reeves and showing that the reflections Reeves saw just before shooting reflected light on the reflective material of his shoes. He told Reeves that there were no signs of a video that Allson threw his cell phone and there was no marking on his face that he said he was beaten.
Reeves said Allson threw it.
“No one but me can answer that,” Reeves said.
The defense soon took a rest. Closing arguments were scheduled for Friday.