Beach officer is third to be shot, killed in nearly three decades

The death Thursday night of Virginia Beach police undercover Detective Michael Smith Phillips marked the third time in nearly 30 years that a Beach police officer has been shot and killed on duty.

In 2003, Officer Rodney F. Pocceschi was killed on Dam Neck Road during a shootout that began with a traffic stop.

A suspect, LeKeith Devon Speller, 21, also died during the shootout. Police said that Speller had been involved in the robbery of an IHOP restaurant a few minutes before Pocceschi tried to pull over his vehicle.

Christina Marie Tatem, a restaurant employee involved in the robbery, was sentenced to serve seven years in prison on charges of conspiracy, robbery and a weapons violation. Her total sentence was 33 years on the convictions, but a judge suspended 26 years.

Police said Tatem let Speller into the restaurant to commit the robbery.

Shawn Anthony Zhe, who was in the car with Speller during the shooting, pleaded guilty in 2003 and later was sentenced to 33 years for robbery, a weapons violation and conspiracy. A judge also suspended 26 years in his case.

At the time of Pocceschi’s death, it had been almost 22 years since an officer had been shot and killed by a suspect in Virginia Beach. 

In December 1981, Officer Daniel T. Maloney, 25, was killed by a suspect after trying to pull over a vehicle that wouldn't stop. Police said he pursued the vehicle to a dead end on Challedon Drive.

The driver jumped out of his car, ran toward Maloney and shot him through the window of his police car. The driver, identified by police as Julius Hyde Joyner, later shot at another officer who returned fire, killing Joyner. 

2nd police death this year in Hampton Roads

Phillips’ death marked the second time this year that a Hampton Roads police officer was shot and killed on duty. In January, Chesapeake police Detective Jarrod Shivers, 34, was shot and killed while executing a drug search warrant at a home in the 900 block of Redstart Avenue in the Portlock section of the city.

Ryan Frederick, 28, was charged with capital murder, using a gun during a felony and manufacturing marijuana in the case. His trial is scheduled for January.

In the past 10 years in Hampton Roads, six other officers have been shot and killed. They were:

• Seneca Darden, Norfolk police, killed May 21, 2006

• Stanley C. Reaves, Norfolk police, killed Oct. 28, 2005

• Michael K. Saffran, Chesapeake police, killed Oct. 8, 2005

• Sheila Herring, Norfolk police, killed Jan. 16, 2003

• James B. Gilbert, Norfolk police, killed Sept. 28, 2001

• William H. Burtt, Norfolk police, killed Feb. 2, 1998

News researcher Maureen Watts contributed to this report.