Bar shooting cops are veterans

Two officers involved in shooting early Sunday at a midtown Omaha bar are longtime members of the Omaha Police Department.

The officer who fired his weapon at a vehicle and injured one person was Officer Calvin Harper, who has been an officer for 14 years. He has been placed on paid administrative leave while the matter is investigated.

The other officer was Officer Randy Szemplenski, who has been with the department 20 years. Szemplenski was briefly placed on administrative duty but has since been returned to his normal assignment.

Both were working off-duty security at Cheaters bar, 3929 Farnam St. Harper fired at a car driving away from Cheaters, injuring 20-year-old Armando Butler, who was driving the car. Butler's brother, Adrian Butler, 28, was a passenger.

The incident followed a bar fight that began about 12:15 a.m.

Acting Police Chief Alex Hayes said Adrian Butler indicated he was on PCP and was taken to the hospital for treatment. Hayes said Butler had been smoking "wet," marijuana dipped in PCP.

"It was hard to talk to Adrian because he was on PCP," Hayes said.

An off-duty officer who was speeding to the scene of the shooting was injured in a car accident.

Officer Jacob Bettin, a Police Department spokesman said Officer Joseph Hall's cruiser collided with a car near 24th and Martha Streets, sending Hall and three other people to hospitals.

The tangled series of events started about midnight when the Butler brothers were at Cheaters. That's when members of a family who hold a grudge against Adrian Butler confronted the brothers, Armando Butler said Sunday from his hospital bed at Creighton University Medical Center.

"There were a lot of members of this one family, and they just started jumping on us," Butler said.

Butler said he and his brother walked out of the bar and hurried to a black 1985 GMC Jimmy to drive away. Butler said that as they drove off, he saw a police officer point a gun at his vehicle and fire at least four shots.

Julie Miller said she was smoking a cigarette across the street at a different bar and witnessed the incident. The 27-year-old Omahan said she saw someone throw a bottle into a crowd outside Cheaters before getting into the Butlers' SUV. One of two off-duty officers providing security at the bar yelled for the driver to stop and fired four or five times as the car sped away, Miller said.

One shot hit Armando Butler in the left leg, forcing him to pull over a few blocks away. His brother then drove to a cousin's home near 33rd and Blondo Streets.

About 2 a.m., police and an ambulance arrived at the home and took Butler to the hospital. Doctors performed surgery and told Butler his left kneecap had been shattered.

Butler said he was not arrested and thinks he was shot by mistake.

"I don't know why I am here (in the hospital)," he said. "I don't know why I was shot."

Officers later arrived at a house at 2228 N. 33rd Ave. to investigate Butler's shooting injury. There, detectives determined that Butler was shot by the off-duty officer at Cheaters.

Detectives are asking anyone who witnessed the incident and haven't yet spoken to police to call investigators at 444-5656.

Szemplenski was working off-duty when he was involved in a May 2008 incident at a gas station where 21-year-old LeRoy Goodwin was shot and killed. Szemplenski was not the officer who fired in that case.

Harper was a November 2005 officer of the month and was a vocal supporter of the police auditor position to help regain people's trust and confidence in the department.

Moments after the shots were fired near Cheaters, officers there called for help. A short time later, Hall's cruiser collided with a Honda Accord near 24th and Martha Streets. Hall was treated at Methodist Hospital for an ankle injury, said Lt. Darci Tierney, a police spokeswoman.

The three occupants of the Honda were admitted to Creighton Medical Center with injuries that Tierney said are not believed to be life-threatening. Jose C. Rivera, 53, was admitted with broken ribs. Daisy Carabantes, 42, had a head injury. Keyri Rivera, 20, suffered a spinal fracture and a broken clavicle.

A hospital spokeswoman said no other information on their conditions is being made public.

Hall, a two-year veteran of the department, had activated his cruiser's lights and siren before the accident, Tierney said. The cruiser was northbound on 24th Street and turning west onto Martha Street when it collided with the westbound Honda driven by Jose C. Rivera.

The night's events add to Cheaters' rowdy history. The City Council revoked the liquor license of the bar, then called Straight Shooters II, in 2007 because of frequent fights there. The bar was sold in early 2008, and the new owners changed the name to Cheaters.

The City Council approved the new owners' request for a liquor license provided that they met 18 conditions, including hiring extra staff to deal with fights and picking up trash on the property.

In September 2008, the council voted to cancel Cheaters' liquor license because of more complaints about fights. But the State Liquor Control Commission overruled the council in December, allowing Cheaters to keep its license.

Last month, Omaha officials asked the commission to take another look at the bar, said City Councilman Chris Jerram. The commission has agreed to review Cheaters' license next month.

"Cheaters has been a long-standing concern in the community," Jerram said. "I've been looking at ways to make things better at 40th and Farnam."

Cheaters' owners were not at the bar Sunday night and couldn't be reached for comment.

Jim Farho would like to hear their explanation. He lives two blocks away and is a member of the Blackstone Neighborhood Association. He is one of many area residents who hope the commission lifts the bar's license for good.

"This is just another incident of many," he said. "We're fed up."

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