Hernando sheriff's captain killed in morning crash

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bierwiler family as well as to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

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BROOKSVILLE -- Scott Bierwiler, a well-known Hernando County sheriff's captain, was killed early this morning in a traffic crash on Powell Road south of Brooksville.

Bierwiler, 42, was traveling east on Powell just east of the Suncoast Parkway about 5:45 a.m. when a vehicle driven by Andrew Frank Morris, 16, crossed the center line and struck Bierwiler's sheriff's vehicle head-on, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The vehicle may have been stolen, authorities said. Morris was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa in critical condition.

Other details were not immediately available. Powell Road remained closed to traffic for several hours this morning.

Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Powers said Bierwiler was on his way in to sheriff's headquarters in Brooksville at the time of the crash. Bierwiler was the son of longtime former sheriff's Sgt. Frank Bierwiler, who for many years was the spokesman for the Hernando Sheriff's Office. In recent years, Scott Bierwiler had filled in as the sheriff's spokesman on occasion.

Bierwiler and his wife, Angie, had three children -- two boys and a girl.

Marty McMahon, a longtime friend of Bierwiler's, remembered him as the consumate family man and "a guy who would walk 50 yards out of his way to come and talk to you."

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http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingne...do-sher-1.html

I am deeply sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers go out to you at the sheriff's office and his family

Our prayers are with the entire Hernando Sheriffs Office and family... RIP.

R.I.P. Brother. You will never be forgotten.

The Good Die Young.


These is hard times we livin' in
Churches burnin, planes
fallin from the sky
Murder, the good die young
The good definitely die young
This is a little somethin'
To help you get through the day
If you could

It was more than a tragedy
Emotions be grabbin' me
Plane fell from the sky
We tryin' to figure what happened
Burnin' churches, fearin' God
Who can be so cruel
Just be a man, make plans
Listen to your voice
A woman's tryin' to make decisions
We should leave them a choice
Cause who are we to say who lives and die
Breathes and stops
All this judgement on other lives
Needs to stop
What are we livin' for
Givin' more back than takin'
On my knees still waitin'
for my own salvation
Now I feel abandoned
You can take my taxes, send me to war
But can't feed me
It's so easy to regret things
After they done
Babies catchin' murder cases
Scared to laugh in the sun
The tragedies that we all need
Love in doses
In times like these we feel closest
The good die young

Does anybody have an answer why
It seems the good die young
Can anybody tell me why

Our prayers to the Captain's family. Rest in Peace Brother.

Our prayers are with his family. This is an unfortunate example of how auto theft is not just a property crime.

Scott will be greately missed, great guy and great cop. My prayers to go out to the family.

CORONADO | News Channel 8
and VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune
and KYLE MARTIN | Hernando Today

Published: February 19, 2009

Updated: 05:17 pm

Related Links

Officer Mourned
Photos Of The Wreckage
Crash Scene
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Scott Bierwiler
BROOKSVILLE - A veteran law enforcement captain died in a head-on collision this morning with a 16-year-old driver who wrote an open letter online cautioning others to be careful when driving.

Hernando County sheriff's Capt. Scott Bierwiler, 42, died about 5:45 a.m., when a 2002 Mitsubishi Montero smashed head-on into his 1999 Ford Crown Victoria on Powell Road.

The father of two daughters and a son, Bierwiler had been driving to work and was in the habit of arriving early. He has supervised the Operations Bureau, which includes patrol, aviation and canine units, since January 2008.

Hernando Sheriff Rich Nugent fought back tears today as he described speaking with Bierwiler's mother and family to offer condolences. He called the captain a "consummate professional."

"This is not how you expect for this to happen," Nugent said. "It's a loss for the community, for the agency and for his family."

The Florida Highway Patrol said Andrew Frank Morris of Weeki Wachee was driving the Mitsubishi, which crossed from the westbound lanes into eastbound traffic.

Morris, a student at nearby Nature Coast High School, was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. Troopers said he is in serious but stable condition.

The highway patrol said Morris' mother owns the Mitsubishi; investigators were sorting out whether he had permission to use it.

Routine tests are being conducted to determine whether Morris was under the influence of alcohol.

According to his profile on the online social network MySpace, Morris is an only child who has competed on the school's wrestling and cross-country teams.

In November, he posted an open letter on the page in reference to 10 people he knew who had had died.

"Listen up, this year has been a very hard year for ALOT of people. The reasons why? Well, everyone is getting into car accidents, drugs are killing them, or suicides," he wrote.

He urged readers to be kind to each other: "[M]ake the world a better place so when it's your time to go people will be like, 'Hey he/she did a great thing for me the other day.'"

Morris also wrote for his friends to be careful when driving: "[W]hen you get in your car to drive somewhere, or to drive someone else somewhere, be aware of your surroundings. Do not have the music too loud, or be messing with your cell phone or iPod. Please, this is important to say that hundreds of people die a year from car crashes. Do not get into a car with someone who has been drinking. Listen, please be careful out there and before someone you love gets severely injured or killed in a car crash or suicide."

Morris' neighbor, Linda Peterson, said the teenager was helpful and would do small jobs such as feeding their cat and yard work.

"He's a good kid," she said.

Morris was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, but the captain was, troopers said.

Gerald Kline, whose backyard abuts Powell Road and California Street, said he called 911 after hearing the crash. He said arriving deputies were devastated to find one of their supervisors was involved.

"They were all tore up," he said.

Deputy Steve Klapka, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police chapter, remembered his longtime friend as a "gentleman's gentleman."

It was Bierwiler who influenced Klapka to move from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in 1987 to a budding town called Spring Hill. After a few hours riding patrol with Bierwiler — who was just fresh out of training — Klapka was impressed with his positive attitude.

"I've been proud to know him from that day forward," a tearful Klapka said.

Bierwiler was well-liked as a supervisor because he never forgot his roots in patrol. From his rise from sergeant, to lieutenant to captain, "he treated everyone the same," Klapka said.

Bierwiler's reputation extended beyond Hernando County's borders. Today, Klapka was fielding calls from police union chapters across Central Florida expressing their condolences.

Bierwiler spent the weekend at the Daytona 500 with his 9-year-son, Scottie, Nugent said. Survivors also include his wife, Angie, and daughters Kayla, 18, and Kiley, 16.

A native of Cold Spring, N.Y., Bierwiler joined the sheriff's office as a deputy in 1986. He was one of a select few law enforcement officers across the country to graduate last year from a three-month class at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Powers said.

He received several awards during his career, including one for helping track down a man who shot and killed a New Jersey police officer in 2003.

Many at the sheriff's office felt close to Bierwiler because the new Emergency Operations Center is named for his father, Sgt. Frank Bierwiler, a former public information officer for the agency.

"We've been a family for a long time," Nugent said. Now Bierwiler "is at rest and is in the arms of his father in heaven.

As a member of the Hernando County S.O and most of all a friend of Scott's I want to say thank you to all who are keeping Scott and the Bierwiler family in your prayers. We all lost a great man this past week. Heaven just got a lot nicer and now we have another Angel to watch over us all. Be safe my brothers and sisters.

Our Thoughts and Prayers go out to both of Capt Bierwiler's families , we are so sorry for your loss.