OFFICER ON TRIAL IN FATAL SHOOTING

Glendale Police Fired The Fatal Rounds In A Shooting That Probably Lasted
Five Seconds Or Less.

Jurors next month will sort out the evidence and decide whether the
officers were justified in using deadly force.

The shots, which killed a 35-year-old man, rang out nearly three years ago
as a team of officers armed with automatic weapons raided a Glendale mobile
home in what turned out to be an unsuccessful search for dynamite and drugs.

The gunplay erupted when one officer, Paul Reger, lost his balance while
trying to open a screen door at the side of the home, according to court
records.

As he was falling to the ground Reger fired one shot into the home that
wounded Frank Ralph Carnesi, Jr., who had a handgun.

"As I believed that Frank Carnesi posed a significant threat of death and
serious physical harm to myself and fellow officers, I fired one shot at
Frank Carnesi as I was falling backward," Reger said.

Another officer, Russell "Rusty" Peterson, erroneously thinking that Reger
had been wounded, then fired a three-round burst that struck Carnesi in the
chest.

Glendale residents Frank and Florence Carnesi, the parents of the dead man,
filed a lawsuit accusing the police of violating the civil rights of their
son by using unnecessary force.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, is set for trial August 7
before Judge Ed Burke of Maricopa County Superior Court.

The trial will focus on the conduct of Reger, a veteran lawman who has been
cleared by police administrators in the shooting but who has had other job
troubles.

Most recently, Reger, 42, an 18-year member of the Glendale force, was
placed on 160 hours of suspension without pay, demoted from senior
investigator to patrolman and removed from the Tactical Operations Unit.
The discipline was handed down May 25 after an unmarked police car that was
parked in front of Reger's home in Glendale was stolen.

Heavy firepower, including a submachine gun, a pistol, ammunition and two
bullet-proof vests, had been left inside the car overnight, a violation of
department policy. The car and the weapons have not been recovered.

The Carnesis originally sued Glendale, as well as Reger and Peterson.
Glendale and Peterson won rulings last year dismissing them from the
action, leaving Reger as the sole defendant.

The raid occurred Aug. 20, 1997, when a team of eight Glendale officers,
backed with a search warrant, went to the home of Carnesi Jr. in the 6800
block of West Patricia Ann Lane to search for explosives, weapons and drugs.

Reger claims that he fired as he was falling backward from the screen door
after he saw Carnesi standing inside the mobile home with a handgun pointed
at him.

He claims that Carnesi kicked the door closed and that his round went
through the door.

James Vieh and Donald Loeb, Scottsdale lawyers for the Carnesis, have filed
court papers claiming that Carnesi Jr. posed no threat to Reger and that
the use of deadly force was unjustified.

Paul Holloway, a Phoenix lawyer for Reger, maintains that the police went
to Carnesi Jr.'s home after being told that he was always armed and was
considered extremely dangerous.

Holloway claims Reger and Peterson acted reasonably.