St. Cloud police take the field to help benefit injured officers

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St. Cloud police take the field to help benefit injured officers

Around Osceola

Wednesday, 08 February 2012 00:00

By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer
Wearing matching jerseys, St. Cloud Police Department members Jan. 28 hustled onto the football field behind Hickory Tree Elementary School in hopes of doing their fellow police brothers proud.
Proceeds from the flag football tournament, also played by the St. Cloud Fire Rescue, Kissimmee Police Department, Kissimmee Fire Department, Osceola County Corrections Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, went to benefit the families of two St. Cloud officers injured in an incident in November involving a shooting spree by a county resident using an AK-47.
Officer Clinton Wise, who was shot in the foot by suspect David Alyn Penney, is still recuperating from his injuries and cheered on his team from the sidelines wearing a football jersey and a protective boot.
“I've been a part of charity games before. There's a good sense of pride in that,” Wise said, “but when it's for you ... everyone's support has been overwhelming.”
Wise's trainee that November night – rookie Officer Spencer Endsley, who sustained cuts to his face, hands and arms from shattered vehicle glass – played quarterback for the team.
“I'm competitive so it was a lot of fun. I loved playing with my brothers,” Endsley, who played quarterback for Harmony High School, said. “It makes me feel like I'm part of the work family – that I'm welcomed. It makes me feel like a brother.”
In the game, St. Cloud Police fell to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, which went undefeated throughout the tournament, and won it all 21-20 in the final game.
“We're exceptionally thankful to all the agencies who participated,” St. Cloud Police Chief Pete Gauntlett said. “The reasons our officers survived that night was their training and fitness.”
Wise underwent two surgeries and five skin grafts to his right foot, which was fractured and had nerve damage. In the first surgery, eight days after the Nov. 21 incident, surgeons removed pieces of his boot from the wound.
“I got very lucky,” the father of four said due to the bullet grazing his peroneal nerve, which has limited movement in his two smaller toes. “Had it gotten severed, I would have lost use of my foot.”
Wise said he expected to be cleared for light duty this month.
Endsley returned to work two weeks after the incident and has resumed his training, which should be completed this month. The incident hasn't dampened his resolve for police work.
“I thought it was part of the job,” Endsley, who raises a boy, 5, with his girlfriend, said. “I knew what I was signing up for.”
Wise's wife, Sherri Wise, commended Endsley, who helped rehabilitate her husband during his two weeks of light duty before returning to the force for training.
“He'll be a great police officer. He's just wonderful,” Sherri Wise said. “He's got a good head on his shoulders.”
Wise and Endsley weren't scheduled to be partners Nov. 21; Wise was off duty and Endsley was scheduled with another officer. Wise was called in and, as the only field training officer available, was paired with Endsley.
“It was the one day we got to ride together,” Endsley said. “It was good at first.”
The pair, introduced by another officer prior to Endsley joining the force, was called to the 600 blocks of Alabama just before 2 a.m. due to multiple reports of shots fired.
Penney, 19, allegedly ambushed the two officers in their patrol car, firing into their vehicle, shattering glass and injuring Endsley, then shooting Wise in the foot.
Penney, who shot himself in the face in a suicide attempt, is in the Osceola County Jail facing numerous charges.
“We pray for his family, his mom, the boy himself. I forgave him the moment it happened,” Sherri Wise said. “We're teaching our children that people do bad things and some of them don’t know what they're doing.”
As for her husband – whom she affectionately calls Clint – she knows his heart belongs to the community he serves.
“He's creating a legacy for his children,” Sherri Wise said. “If the doctors cleared him tomorrow, I'd be ready for him to go back.”