Ex-Police Officer Accused Of Attempted Murder Vanishes

By STEPHEN THOMPSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 15, 2007

TAMPA - In the predawn darkness, Courtenay Savage stepped out of a rented sport utility vehicle and, like the police officer she once was, planted her feet and fired a .357-caliber handgun at a house and a van, prosecutors say.

She was wearing earplugs, as if she were at the firing range.

Four bullets went through the window of a bedroom, prosecutors say. One shattered a television. Another struck a mirror above a crib, causing broken glass to fall and cut an 11-month-old. That same bullet then pierced the wall of the next bedroom, whizzing over the head of a woman sleeping with her two granddaughters.

Savage sped off and was arrested the next day, prosecutors say. By the time they finished tallying the number of people inside, Savage, 32, was facing eight counts of attempted second-degree murder, and bail exceeded $100,000.

Her husband, Tampa police officer David Lee Savage Jr., 32, came up with the money in cash, and Savage was released, court documents show.

Last month, Courtenay Savage failed to show for a court hearing, and now she is nowhere to be found.

"We are searching for her," said Pinellas County sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha, though she declined to release details.

"This is not your average failure-to-appear on a traffic citation, which we have thousands of."

A Soured Business Deal

Savage was arrested Sept. 8, the day after authorities say she repeatedly fired the gun into the Largo home of Christina Lodrini. Twice before, documents say, Savage had fired a gun at the house or a vehicle parked there, so by Sept. 7, Lodrini had installed a hidden video camera outside the house, which captured the entire shooting.

That was how Savage was identified.

Savage and Lodrini had together owned an aromatherapy business, and Savage was upset because she thought Lodrini had run the business into the ground and owed her money, according to prosecutors and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

"I wanted my own justice," she is quoted as saying in a prepared statement read in court by Assistant State Attorney Lydia Wardell.

After the videotape identified her, sheriff's investigators set up surveillance outside Savage's home and saw her drive the rented sport utility vehicle back to an Enterprise car rental outlet, the statement says. They then saw her start to unload items from the car into her Toyota pickup, the statement says.

Under the direction of detectives, Christina Lodrini called Savage and offered to give her $2,000 at a meeting at a Perkins restaurant, the statement says. There, she was arrested and had to be subdued with a Taser, the statement says.

Inside her purse, investigators found a gun that turned out to be her husband's, the statement says; a bullet was in the chamber, and nine were in the magazine. Under the driver's seat of the Toyota pickup were four throwing knives and sheaths. There was a police raid vest behind the driver's seat and a book on how to use a silencer, the statement says.

Eventually, a .357 was recovered from the bathroom of Savage's grandmother's home, along with a case containing 22 bullets, the prepared statement says. Also found were a wig, a knit cap and masking tape, the statement says. Police also recovered a voice-altering device from the house she shared with her husband, the statement says.

The Divorce

Eight years ago, in 1999, Courtenay Savage married David Lee Savage Jr. in Nevada. She signed on as a reserve officer with the Tampa Police Department in 2000 and told Pinellas sheriff's investigators she had worked as a detention deputy.

David Savage was hired by Tampa police in 2002 and is assigned to the street anticrime squad that covers Ybor City. His supervisors give him high marks as a hard-working and dependable officer, his personnel file shows.

Two years ago, he and another officer came upon five teens who were attacking two people in a robbery in Ybor City. When two of the teens pointed their guns at the officers, David Savage and the other officer fired. Four of the teens were wounded and one was killed. David Savage and the other officer were cleared of wrongdoing.

In 2005, Courtenay Savage was fired, Tampa personnel records show. The records do not indicate why she lost her job. Kristen Perezluha, a spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said Savage's separation from Tampa police was not the result of officer discipline.

Courtenay Savage's certification as a law enforcement officer had lapsed, however, Perezluha said, and as with any officer in that situation, she would have to go through the police academy again.

After her arrest, while she was in the Pinellas County Jail, prosecutors kept adding charges as more and more people were discovered to have been in the house at 6301 144th Ave., court records show. As each charge carries a specific bail amount, that affected the total bail she needed.

She was freed Oct. 14 on a $120,500 surety bond handled by All American Bail Bonds, according to court records and Pasha, the sheriff's spokeswoman. Under the terms of such a bond, a party typically puts up collateral, such as property, or a percentage in cash of the amount needed.

In an interview Friday, David Savage said he secured the bond, and his first name is listed on court documents as the person having promised to secure it. Later he grew concerned that she was going to flee, he said, so he contacted All American and said he was no longer interested in securing the bond.

With no security, All American Bail Bonds surrendered Courtenay Savage at the Pinellas County Jail on Feb. 12. The following month, with his wife still incarcerated, David Savage filed for divorce.

As part of an agreement hashed out by the two of them, Courtenay Savage was to keep her Toyota Tundra; David Savage was to keep his. David Savage also kept the couple's seven Labrador retrievers, with liberal visitation for Courtenay Savage. She also relinquished her claim to David Savage's police pension.

The only cash exchanging hands was the $120,000 that David agreed to give Courtenay to buy out her interest in the home the couple owned in Spring Hill, Pasco County court records show.

Two months later, on May 2, David Savage put up $115,500 cash in bail, court records show. David Savage said the money was from the $120,000 buyout. He said he had to put up the cash in his name because his wife was still in jail and she couldn't arrange it.

Two weeks later, on May 17, the divorce was finalized by Pasco Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper, court records show.

The month after she was released, Courtenay Savage's attorney, Richard McKyton, filed a motion asking to withdraw from the case. Savage was talking to other lawyers about the charges against her.

Last month, McKyton filed another motion, noting he had lost contact with Savage. When she failed to show up at two court hearings that month, a judge ordered the $115,500 to be taken by the court, and the sheriff's office issued a warrant charging Savage with eight counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of criminal mischief and one count of resisting arrest without violence, Pasha said.

Courtenay Savage, who reverted to her maiden name, White, as part of the divorce decree, had vanished. If she is apprehended, she will be held without bail, Pasha said.

Reporters Valerie Kalfrin and Jo-Ann Johnston contributed to this report. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson

@tampatrib.com.