Sergeant Richard Lee Cloud

Sergeant Richard Lee Cloud | Tampa Police Department, Florida
Tampa Police Department, Florida
Sergeant Richard Lee Cloud

Tampa Police Department, Florida

End of Watch Thursday, October 23, 1975

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Richard Lee Cloud

Sergeant Richard Cloud was assassinated by members of the mob seven months after losing his job with the Tampa Police Department.

After losing his job he worked on a federal task force fighting drug dealing and organized crime. He was shot when he answered his door at his home at 404 W. Alva Street. The suspect was arrested and executed in the late 1970s.

After his death the Tampa Police Department posthumously reinstated Sergeant Cloud to his former position.

Sergeant Cloud was survived by his wife, two children, and mother.

Bio

  • Age 33
  • Tour Not available
  • Badge Not available

Incident Details

  • Cause Gunfire
  • Weapon Gun; Unknown type
  • Offender Executed

ambush, at home, off duty, organized crime, retaliation

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I never met Richard Cloud, but he helped me out even after his death. You see I was a Tampa Police Officer, and after I left the department in 1976, I also worked with Customs in Colombia infiltrating the Cali Cartel. The operation was successful. I met with Cali Cartel Boss Miguel Angel Rodriguez Orejuela in his home in Cali, Colombia and we made a deal to ship a metric ton of Cocaine per month to Tampa. This vase was used by the Colombian Government to put the Cali Bosses in jail. Of course, revenge is as Colombian as Coffee. In 2008, Cali Family attempted to exact that revenge. The Cali family member lived in Florida. US Marshalls had a talk with him and told him of the "Cloud Law." They informed him that as I was a Tampa Police Officer, then went to work on a Federal Investigation, that if I turned up dead it would br the Death Penalty for him. He backed off. Decades after SGT. Richard Cloud was murdered, he is still saving lives. I am alive today because of the sacrifice of SGT. Cloud. He is still saving others. Hos Sacrifice was not in vain. He will always be dear to my heart.

Officer Mitchell Henderson
Tampa Police Department 1980-86

September 22, 2023

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