Search fatalities

Michael J. Magli

Gender : Male

Age : 30

Race : White

Date : 02/17/2021

Location : East Lake Road near Forelock Road

City : Tarpon Springs

County : Pinellas

State : Florida

Agency : Pinellas County Sheriff's Office

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Police officer killed by fleeing driver during police chase

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

REASON FOR CHASE: Pinellas County deputies responded to a report of a driver passed out behind the wheel at East Lake Road and Forelock Road. After fire-rescue personnel broke a window to evaluate the unresponsive driver, he drove away. Deputies subsequently attempted a traffic stop, but the driver fled and deputies pursued.

NARRATIVE:
On 02/17/2021, 30-year-old Pinellas County Sheriff's Deputy Michael J. Magli was killed when a fleeing driver struck him as Magli prepared to deploy stop sticks during a police pursuit on East Lake Road in northern Pinellas County.

At approximately 4:25 p.m., deputies were dispatched to East Lake Road and Forelock Road after a driver was reported passed out behind the wheel of a pickup truck at a red traffic signal. East Lake Fire Rescue personnel arrived first and broke a window to evaluate the unresponsive driver. The driver, later identified as 33-year-old Robert Allen Holzaepfel, then drove away. 

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Holzaepfel drove north on East Lake Road and then east on Keystone Road while deputies attempted to stop him. He made a U-turn, drove over a curb and returned toward East Lake Road. When he stopped at a red light, deputies attempted another traffic stop. Holzaepfel then drove south on East Lake Road and continued away from deputies. 

Magli was traveling north on East Lake Road when he stopped his patrol vehicle in the median and got out to deploy a tire-deflation device in an attempt to end the pursuit. 

Holzaepfel entered the median, lost control of his pickup and struck Magli. The impact pinned Magli beneath his patrol vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Holzaepfel was taken into custody. The Sheriff's Office subsequently reported that testing showed his blood-alcohol concentration was .230. Investigators sought witnesses and video from several collisions that occurred during his flight along East Lake and Keystone roads. 
.
Magli had served with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office since 2013 and was assigned to the Patrol Operations Bureau. He was survived by his wife, two young children and his parents. He was the first Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputy killed in the line of duty in the agency's history. 

DISPOSITION:
Holzaepfel was arrested following the fatal crash. Contemporary reporting listed charges including first-degree murder, DUI manslaughter, aggravated fleeing and eluding, driving with a suspended license involving a death, and leaving the scene of a property-damage crash. Later law-enforcement memorial records report that he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. 

The 02/17/2021 Pinellas County fatality documented by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System corresponds with the independently documented pursuit-related death of Deputy Michael J. Magli.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://pinellassheriff.gov/21-018-update-blood-alcohol-determined-detectives-investigate-after-pinellas-deputy-killed-in-the-line-of-duty
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/02/18/florida-deputy-killed-in-crash-in-tarpon-springs/
https://iontb.com/?p=37034
https://www.odmp.org/officer/25136-deputy-sheriff-michael-magli
https://pinellassheriff.gov/21-106-a-portion-of-east-lake-road-dedicated-to-pinellas-county-sheriff-s-deputy-michael-j-magli