Original Article Wrong man for a badge in Chandler May. 7, 2005 12:00 AM Chandler's Merit Board voted unanimously last week to uphold the firing of former police Officer Dan Lovelace. It is the latest step in a drama that has played out over 2 1/2 years, since the day an Ahwatukee Foothills woman allegedly tried to fill a forged prescription. It was a misdemeanor crime at most, but Dawn Rae Nelson, 35, ended up dead from a single bullet shot by Lovelace. The Chandler Police Department fired Lovelace, a former Rookie of the Year, on Nov. 13, 2002, for excessive use of force in the Oct. 11, 2002, shooting at a drive-through pharmacy at Dobson and Warner roads. A Maricopa County Superior Court jury found Lovelace not guilty on July 9 of second-degree murder in Nelson's death, and not guilty of endangerment for firing into a moving automobile in which 14-month-old Kenneth Nelson was strapped into a car seat. With the criminal trial behind him, Lovelace went after his job. The police union has backed him, and the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board voted in November not to revoke his certification. The Merit Board voted 5-0 to uphold the firing. The final step in the drama rests with City Manager Mark Pentz, who must decide whether to rehire Lovelace. We have no doubt that Lovelace always wanted to be a good officer. Still, it is in the city's best interest to stand its ground and not rehire Lovelace. And it is the pragmatic decision also. Unfortunately, in the span of three years, Lovelace's judgment contributed to two deaths and cost the city about $5 million. He is the most expensive officer in Chandler history. If Lovelace is given a badge and gun, and another person dies, how much responsibility rests on the city? Lovelace's judgment during split-second decisions is questionable. There is a pragmatic reason as well not to rehire Lovelace. He told the board that he cannot go anywhere in town without someone recognizing him and reacting negatively. "In the back of your mind you wonder if someone's going to cap you in the back of the head," he said during the hearing. He has been unable to get a job other than cleaning grease from kitchen hoods and landscaping, he said. Some people have declined his services, he said, for fear neighbors would recognize him while he mowed their lawn. How can he possibly be an effective police officer in Chandler? The answer is, he can't. -Tuesday