State officials clear Plant City officer in November shooting

PLANT CITY -- The man was dragging the woman into the burning house. He had refused to follow police orders and was holding her against her will, stabbing her several times and setting fire to her Plant City home with two children inside.

Officer James Burchett made a decision. He leveled his Glock, took aim through the flames, and drilled one round through the man's left eye.

Trung Thanh Do, 31, dropped to the floor, dead from the bullet. The woman, Maria De Lose Angeles Romano, then 43, crawled safely out the window.

Burchett, of the Plant City Police Department, was placed on administrative leave in early November while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the incident, which is standard in a police shooting.

A report released this week cleared Burchett and said his use of force was justified.

Do broke into Romano's home at 107 S Maryland Ave. in Plant City just before 4 a.m. November 11. According to the report, Do stabbed her in the chest and arms several times. He then lit her house on fire because Romano had dumped him. He had previously told her he would kill if she did not take him back, the report said.

Police arrived, along with Plant City Fire Rescue, after receiving a call that four people were inside the burning house. Officer Burchett helped the two children, Wendy Gonzalez, 18, and Maria Guevara, 13, out the window, the report said. Frantic, Maria told Burchett that Do had stabbed her mother in the back bedroom.

Burchett and Officer Jeffrey Hilsman then rushed to the back of the house and, through a closed window, saw Do wrapping his arms around Romano, the report said. Smoke was filling the room, and Do was refusing to drop Romano and leave the house, so Burchett and Hilsman shattered the window with their batons.

According to the report, both officers said Do tried to pull Romano further into the house. They both took out their weapons and Burchett fired a single shot.

The teens were uninjured. Romano was rescued and treated. State records show Do had no criminal past in Florida – only a traffic ticket in Hillsborough County from August 2014.

Contact Zack Peterson at zpeterson@tampabay.com.