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Several West Palm Beach officers in deadly Boynton chase had discipline history, records show
Nearly all of the seven former West Palm Beach Police officers who are facing charges for their role in a July 2024 chase that resulted in the deaths of a mother and her daughter in Boynton Beach had earned positive reviews for their police work.
One was Officer of the Year in 2022. Another was praised for being someone who supervisors trusted. A third was described as a calm leader in an evaluation just weeks after the chase that would lead to his termination, according to personnel records obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
But all seven officers returned to their jobs on the night of July 30, 2024, as if the high-speed chase and the deadly crash hadn't happened, according to a probable cause affidavit, including one who drove past the wreckage on the way back to West Palm Beach.
The officers who were terminated in June are: Austin B. Danielovich, 34; Pierre F. Etienne, 33; Christopher C. Rekdahl, 38; Michael E. Borgen, 32; William L. Loayza, 36; Brandan C. Stedfelt, 31; and Darien J. Thomas, 31. They have pleaded not guilty to the different charges they are facing.
About 8 p.m. July 30, 2024, three West Palm Beach Police cars were chasing Neoni Copeland, driving a 2022 Kia Stinger. Copeland hit the passenger's side of a 2017 Toyota Corolla in the 4300 block of North Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach, causing 'massive blunt force injuries' to Marcia Pochette, 57, and the driver Jenice Woods, 27, who was pregnant, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The mother and daughter were trapped in their car when Boynton Beach Police officers arrived just minutes later. Copeland had already ran away, and the West Palm Beach officers immediately returned to their city, the affidavit said.
'The investigation revealed none of the seven officers exited their vehicle to check on the crash victims (or stop Copeland). None of the seven officers used a radio or a phone to call EMS for the victims. None of the officers remained at the scene to provide details to Boynton Beach investigators. The seven officers returned to their jurisdiction and seemed to go about their normal duties, though failing to tell a supervisor about what happened,' the affidavit said.
Danielovich, Etienne and Rekdahl each face two counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and one count of official misconduct. Loayza, Borgen, Stedfelt and Thomas each face one count of official misconduct.
Etienne, who was the driver of one unmarked car, had been disciplined for a previous pursuit where he drove against traffic on Interstate 95. Rekdahl, another driver in the pursuit, and Thomas, one of Rekdahl's passengers, were both previously disciplined for at-fault, on-duty crashes. Danielovich, the third driver in the pursuit, was previously disciplined for a body-worn camera violation, their personnel files show.
Hired in 2015, Rekdahl was one of five officers involved in the crash who were assigned to the GHOST unit, the Gang and Habitual Offender Suppression Team. He joined the specialty unit in October 2022 and was previously an officer assigned to the entertainment district, his personnel records show.
Rekdahl's discipline history increased from written reprimands for at-fault, on-duty crashes in 2015 and 2019 to an 8-hour suspension in May 2023. The suspension notice said the 2023 crash was his third preventable crash within a year.
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In his 2016 annual review, he was complimented for being an exemplary officer who gave the police department a good reputation within and with the public and for being 'trusted by his supervisors to handle almost any situation with limited or no supervision.'
By the next year, he was awarded with two Department Citation Medals for his role at the SunFest music festival and a 'plain clothes operation' on Clematis Street. He also received that year a Certificate of Commendation and was nominated for Officer of the Quarter. He received two Certificates of Commendation in 2018 while working the entertainment district.
Thomas, a passenger in Rekdahl's truck, was hired in 2017 and joined the GHOST unit in 2023. He received a written reprimand in 2020 for an at-fault crash where he failed to yield to the right-of-way, his personnel records show. That same year, he was commended for his involvement in four arrests made by the burglary team. He interned at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and Jacksonville Sheriff's Office before applying to the police department.
Etienne was hired in 2017 and became a GHOST unit detective in 2020.
He received a written reprimand in 2018 for a pursuit of a stolen car where he and multiple other patrol officers drove against traffic on Interstate 95, according to his personnel records.
In 2015, he resigned from Palm Beach Gardens Police to avoid termination because he was not going to pass the Field Training Program, according to his West Palm Beach Police application and background investigation. The training officers 'were very concerned' during the final part of Etienne's training related to officer safety and 'inability to work under pressure,' the records show.
A training officer 'was forced to intervene multiple times to ensure proper procedure and safety,' Etienne's background investigation report said. The report does not provide further details.
Years later in several annual reviews, Etienne was lauded for juggling his responsibilities on the specialty unit with monitoring frequent juvenile offenders, for being 'always cool under pressure' and for rarely needing help from his supervisors.
'He has proven himself on many occasions that he can work well under pressure and during high stress situations,' a supervisor wrote in his 2022 review.
Loayza was hired in 2020 and had been appointed to the GHOST unit only a few months before the crash, his personnel records show.
While applying to the police department in 2019, a background investigator found Loayza had 'an unusual amount of traffic citations and interactions with the police,' the investigator wrote in his report. Loayza had at least 53 traffic citations in Palm Beach County at the time. His license was suspended for a year in 2007, his records show.
Loayza said during his polygraph test that he was arrested once for concealed carrying brass knuckles and once for disorderly conduct, according to his personnel file.
He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence in 2007, court records show. Prosecutors later dropped the case.
The background investigator found six PBSO reports involving Loayza, including three domestic disputes where he was not the subject.
In his first interim evaluation as a new officer, Loayza was acknowledged for handling high-stress calls in the city's northern areas well and for being eager to learn. By 2024, he had been nominated and awarded multiple times Officer of the Quarter.
At a court hearing on Monday, Loayza's attorney sought to have his charges dismissed, arguing the former officer's actions do not constitute a crime under state statute, even if they were unethical. But Judge Howard Coates rejected the attempt.
Danielovich was hired in 2021 and previously worked for the Anne Arundel County Police Department in Maryland beginning in 2016. He had no discipline history at his previous job aside from verbal counseling for missing a court date.
He received a written reprimand in 2023 for a body-worn camera violation after he was involved in three use-of-force events, his records show. The reprimand noted he had previously activated his camera late on four different dates in 2022 and 2023 and a 'previous lack of tactical communication' on two other dates in 2022.
After the reprimand, Danielovich was ordered to have every use-of-force event he was involved in reviewed by a lieutenant to ensure his camera was turned on timely, that he used proper de-escalation techniques and that 'actions are accurately reflected in the narrative' of reports, the notice of discipline said.
Three weeks after the crash, Danielovich, assigned to the Bike Unit and a junior member of the SWAT team, received a glowing review annual review. The evaluation did not mention the crash or the fact that he had been placed on administrative leave on Aug. 1, the personnel records show.
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'His passion for police work is recognized by his peers and serves as encouragement to keep others on task even when morale is low. Ofc. Danielovich has established himself as someone worthy of respect in the community not only for his fair and honest treatment but his ability to communicate and make people smile,' his supervisor wrote in his August 2024 review.
Stedfelt and Borgen both wrote in their applications that they had been 'let go' from Fort Lauderdale Police while cadets in the police academy, their personnel records show.
Stedfelt finished his one-year probationary period as a new officer five months before the crash. He was terminated by Fort Lauderdale Police in 2021 after he received a traffic ticket for speeding while in the academy, which was eventually thrown out by a judge, according to a background investigator's report. He later worked at the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office.
Borgen was hired in 2019 and had been appointed to the GHOST unit at the end of 2023. He was honored as Officer of the Year in 2022. While at the Fort Lauderdale Police academy in 2018, he was terminated after he failed a physical fitness test.
Sun Sentinel staff writer Shira Moolten contributed to this report.
