Rodney Pocceschi - The Night of The Incident

The Night of The Incident

In the evening of June 23, 2003, Christina Marie Tatem, an 18-year-old IHOP employee, let two men into the back door of the restaurant: her boyfriend and convicted felon LeKeith Devon Speller, 21, and his accomplice Shawn Anthony Zhe. The three put on masks and robbed the restaurant, which was open though no customers were present. The two men fled and at 3:24am were pulled over for speeding by Officer Pocceschi.

According to police reports, during the traffic stop Lekeith Devon Speller, 21, got out of the car and pulled a gun and shot at Pocceschi, who fired back. Both were wounded and collapsed; Zhe remained on the scene. A teenager saw Pocceschi lying in the road and stopped to help. He flagged down a K-9 officer, who with a second officer rendered CPR. Pocceschi died in the hospital at 4:05 a.m; this was the first felonious killing of a Virginia Beach police officer in twenty-two years.

Speller was pronounced dead at the scene. It was quickly discovered that he was a six time convicted felon, including violent crimes, and was at that time wanted for assaulting another police officer, burglary, grand larceny, and probation violation. He was also the suspected accomplice in a pair of fast-food robberies and one murder only a month before Pocceschi's killing.

Pocceschi is survived by a wife and child, nine months old at the time of the killing. A memorial fund eventually yielded $44,000.