October 19, 1982
From the book, Some Gave All, available on Amazon or from the author
By Mike Simmons
October 19, 1982: Steve Taylor had been a Pensacola Police Officer since December 1979. The other officers on his shift described him as a quiet man who could be counted on to back them no matter the danger. Doc Snow, one of his officer brothers, said he had a different way about him.
The alert tone sounded – three beeps. Once everyone’s attention had been acquired, Dispatcher Mike Flores said “0-23 (armed robbery), silent, at the Freedom Savings and Loan, 201 North Palafox St.” Officers Larry Bailly, Steve Taylor, Franco Sidoti, and T. C. Miller radioed that they were responding.
Larry arrived first, with Steve right behind him – both at the front door on the east side of the building. Larry, a salty veteran, had been through a lot. When Steve began working on his shift, Larry took him under his wing. Steve looked up to him as a big brother, a mentor of sorts.
Clarence Hill and Cliff Jackson arrived in downtown Pensacola in a buick stolen from Mobile, AL. The lobby of the Freedom Savings and Loan was filled with people as the two armed thugs walked in and announced the robbery. An alert teller pushed the silent alarm. Hill jumped over the counter and put his gun to the head of one of the tellers.
After taking the money, they exited through different doors. Clarence left through the south while Cliff exited out the east side front door to Palafox Street.
The officers saw Jackson and ordered him at gunpoint to the ground. As Steve was handcuffing him, Hill suddenly shot him from behind.
The first bullet entered his body under his armor into his back, pierced his lung, and passed through his aorta. The second bullet entered his chest near his sternum. Hill’s next shot struck Officer Larry Bailly in the neck. Bailly felt a sting in his neck, but returned fire, emptying his gun at Hill, who was “twisting and dancing” to avoid being shot. He was hit by Bailly.
Steve got up, staggered toward the street, then got on the police radio to report that the men had run. The only thing that came out of his mouth, though, was a painful whimpering noise. It was the last sound he would ever make. He collapsed on the street as his comrades ran to his aid.
Clarence Hill ran northeast across Palafox Street and to the corner of Wright Street. Sgt. Paul Muller saw Hill and arrested him at gunpoint.
Jackson ran around the north side of the bank and headed west between the buildings. Officer T. C. Miller shot him, but he kept running. With a bullet in his abdomen, Jackson made his way to the Big Ten tire store on the next corner and was taken into custody, along with the $6703.00 they had stolen.
“Hi, Franco. What’s wrong?” said Steve’s wife, Suzanne when Officer Franco Sidoti arrived at her job. “Steve’s been shot. It’s bad. We need to go to the hospital.”
The scene in the emergency room can only be described as hopeless chaos. Beyond the traffic jam of police cars in the parking lot, a sea of light blue police uniforms blocked the entrance as the police car carrying Suzanne, the newest widow in Pensacola, arrived. As Suzanne got out of the police car, all eyes were on her and all talking stopped. The crowd parted as the Red Sea parted for Moses and the Children of Israel. Every eye – some with tears – showed the same helpless pain. They couldn’t help her or make the situation better. To stand by and watch helplessly as the wife of a slain officer walks slowly into the “family room” of a hospital is not easy. She officially received the information that her husband was dead. Her world stopped as well. It would never be the same.
Friday, March 11, 1983: Cliff Jackson, the younger of the murderers, decided to acquiesce to his part in the robbery and murder. For that, he received life in prison. It was the only smart thing he had done recently, although it was still out of concern for himself. Even though Jackson had a baby face and appeared to not be ‘as guilty’ as his partner, he was every bit the mean and ugly person in jail. He treated officers and other inmates with disdain, threatening and degrading them constantly. So, the boy who jumped in the stolen car with his buddy “for an adventure” robbed a bank, murdered a police officer, and attempted to murder another one will spend 25 years in prison and be set free. Steve Taylor should be so lucky.
The trial date finally arrived. Public Defender Earl Loveless began by stating that Clarence Hill was one of the men who robbed the bank and shot the officers. That was not debated. He claimed, though, that the act was not premeditated murder. Loveless’ strategy did not hinge on guilt or innocence, but on one thing…to keep his client from being put to death.
After three days of testimony from police officers, witnesses, doctors, and the co-defendant, Clarence Hill was found guilty of premeditated and felony first-degree murder. The jury further recommended that Hill die in the electric chair. On May 27, 1983, Judge Barfield sentenced Hill to be executed for his deeds. Justice at work, but it didn’t bring Steve Taylor back.
On Wednesday, September 20, 2006, Clarence Hill was declared dead at 5:11 PM, eleven minutes after the lethal injection process began. Steve Taylor would have been 50 years old. His widow, family, friends, and fellow officers had to wait 24 years – 8766 days – for the day to arrive.
As of October 19, 2023, Cliff Jackson still sits in prison at Martin Correctional Institution in central Florida.
*Sources: Pensacola Police Department records from October 19, 1982; Clerk of Court Records 1982-1983; Pensacola News Journal October 20-28, 1982; Interview with Suzanne Taylor Vickery May 7, 2021.
#oldpolicestories
Steve and I were in the Academy together. He is still missed.