Four arrests related to death of Det. David White

Just days before Clay County commemorates the death of Detective David White, family and friends gain some closure by finding out more information.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have arrested four people in connection to the theft and transfer of the gun used in White’s death.  For the people who served on the team with White a year ago, that brings an answer to a question that has haunted the last year.

“How did he get the fun that was used to kill Dave and change everybody’s lives forever,” says CCSO Captain Barry Abramowitz.

Investigators believe 22-year-old Robert Apple, of Orange Park, stole the gun in Jacksonville in May 2011.  It then passed through 21-year-old Christopher Henderson, of Middleburg: 19-year-old Curtis “Ping” Dingler, of Middleburg; and 36-year-old Jack Lemond, of Orange Park, before getting to Ted Tilley.  On February 16, 2012, Tilley then fatally shot Detective White and shot and injured Detective Matthew Hanlin while they were investigating meth production at a home on Alligator Boulevard.

“You can go ahead and put a thousand people in jail, it’s not gunna change what happened,” Abramowitz tell me.

Police believe all the suspects knew the weapon was stolen.  They’re charged with dealing in stolen property.

Abramowitz says having the answer to where the gun came from will help get some closure- and the credit for that goes to the agencies which were investigating and didn’t stop with the incident itself a year ago.

“They were relentless in trying to find the origin of this weapon.”

But ultimately, he says time is the only thing that will eventually heal everyone touched by Detective White.