The Oviedo police officer who was indicted Tuesday by a Seminole County grand jury fired six times into a moving car and wounded the driver twice, according to prosecution records.
Officer Matthew Danler, 37, of Deltona, is charged with two counts of aggravated battery and one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle.
The State Attorney’s Office in Sanford on Wednesday released more information about what prompted the charges.
The shooting happened just before dawn on Sept. 1.
Danler was one of three Oviedo officers sent to a home on Sharon Court because someone had called 911, asking a dispatcher to send police. The caller hung up without explaining.
When officers got there about 6 a.m. they walked toward a duplex. Jason Denard Scott was sitting behind the wheel of a black Chrysler 300 that was backed into a parking space, according to the affidavit.
He “revved” his engine and pulled into the street, and Danler fired six times, according to the affidavit.
At the time of the shooting Oviedo police reported that Scott drove straight at Danler.
The other two officers at the scene, Christopher Salemi and Edward Heim, told investigators they believed Scott drove “in the direction of” Danler, according to the arrest affidavit.
But the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated and Special Agent Nicole Miller wrote that Danler had approached the duplex by walking “between” Scott’s car and a pickup truck.
The grand jury concluded that when Danler opened fire, he committed a crime.
The case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which turned over its evidence to the State Attorney’s Office in November.
That’s the agency that presented the case on Tuesday to the grand jury.
Among the evidence gathered by FDLE: body camera video from Danler and Helm.
The car that Danler shot at got away, but a short time later an Oviedo woman called 911, saying her niece was knocking on her front door, saying she had been shot.
She was mistaken. The woman, Beatrice Sheppard-Scott, was bleeding from several small cuts. Authorities found part of a copper bullet casing on her shirt, according to the affidavit.
About 45 minutes later someone called 911 in Orange County, and authorities found Jason Scott with gunshot wounds to his arm and belly, the affidavit said. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center.
His black Chrysler had several bullet holes in it, and when it was examined by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, technicians found four pieces of copper bullet casings inside that matched Danler’s gun.
The grand jury charged Danler with one count of aggravated battery because of the injury to Jason Scott and one count of aggravated battery because of the cuts suffered by Beatrice Sheppard Scott.
Danler did not cooperate with the investigation, the affidavit said.
He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
He was taken to the Seminole County Jail on Tuesday and was released on $20,000 bond.
Once he got out of the hospital Jason Scott, 33, was charged with fleeing from a police officer, a misdemeanor, and on Dec. 14 pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 100 days in jail, time he had already served.
rstutzman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6394
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rstutzman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6394
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