Original Article Fired officer loses 3-year battle to get his job back Edythe Jensen The Arizona Republic Jun. 7, 2005 12:00 AM He killed a woman and cost the city more than $4.6 million. On Monday, fired Chandler police Officer Dan Lovelace lost his three-year battle to get his job back. Calling it in the best interest of the Police Department and Chandler, City Manager Mark Pentz backed the 5-0 April vote by a city personnel board that recommended against Lovelace's reinstatement. But that doesn't mean the fired cop will never again carry a badge and gun. A ruling in November by the state agency certifying law enforcement officers allows him to keep his credentials and look for work with another police department. Lovelace, 40, was fired in 2002 after he shot and killed Dawn Rae Nelson, 35, in midafternoon at a Chandler Walgreens drive-through window. A motorcycle officer at the time of Nelson's death, Lovelace had also been involved in 2000 high-speed chase that led to the death of a college student. The city settled wrongful death lawsuits in both cases. Nelson, of Ahwatukee Foothills, was suspected of trying to pick up a prescription she had called in claiming to be with a doctor's office. Lovelace was charged with second-degree murder. A Superior Court jury acquitted him in July. Lyn Caldwell of Mesa was an alternate on that jury who sat through the trial but did not deliberate. She said Monday that she has since befriended Lovelace and his wife, Trish, a dispatcher for the Chandler police. "I would encourage him to keep fighting if that's what he wants," said Caldwell, one of two former jurors who sat through several days of personnel hearings that stretched over six months. "I know he has taken this very hard and I know he says a prayer for Dawn (Nelson) every day," she said. Caldwell, who said Lovelace recently helped her move an elderly family member, called Pentz's decision "the end of a witch hunt. They were out to get him and they did." During the merit board hearings, police officials said they fired Lovelace because he should not have stepped in front of Nelson's Camaro and drawn his gun; he had her license plate number and should have let her go. Her toddler, who was buckled into a car seat in the back, was not hurt. Lovelace testified that he fired to avoid being hit by Nelson's car. Efforts to reach Lovelace or his attorney, Mike Napier, were unsuccessful Monday. After the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board voted to not revoke his certification, Lovelace said, "Being a police officer is something I always wanted to do." He said at the time that he has lost 40 pounds, has had difficulty sleeping and doesn't go out much because people recognize him. Lovelace credited the Bible and his wife for boosting his morale. The Chandler Law Enforcement Association backed Lovelace's fight for reinstatement, but President Dave LeVoy said it wouldn't fight the city manager's decision. "We let the process take its course," he said.