Published on Tuesday, January 23, 2007
in the Tampa Bay Online

Shooting Suspects Not Held With Other Inmates

SEBRING — The two men law enforcement officials said were involved with this month’s shooting death of a Florida Highway Patrol officer are being held separately not only from other inmates, but from each other.

Highlands County Jail Detention Center Captain Booker Johnson said jail officials made the decision to house the two apart from other inmates until further notice.

Joshua Lee Altersberger and Quintin Jerome Kinder were arrested last week after FHP reports said Sgt. Nicholas Sottile pulled over a vehicle the two were using near Lake Placid for a traffic violation.

The FHP said Altersberger shot Sottile in the chest and fled in his vehicle, prompting Kinder to flee into a nearby orange grove. According to an FHP report, Kinder was a passenger in the car driven by Altersberger.

The two were later separately caught by law enforcement. Altersberger is charged with first-degree murder, while Kinder is charged with trespassing in a cultivated grove, a misdemeanor.

The two suspects have been ordered held without bond and are currently being held in the Highlands County Jail.

Johnson said the decision to separate the two suspects is not uncommon, considering both are high-profile suspects.

He said Altersberger and Kinder are the two most high-profile suspects the jail has had in years.

“It was determined as soon as they were processed,” he said.

“We’re concerned with their safety and making sure we don’t put them in with a family member of the deceased. We look that stuff up. As with most high-profile inmates, it’s very much the case here,” Johnson said.

Johnson said a court date for Altersberger most likely won’t be scheduled for anytime within the next six months.

“There is no set criteria, but eventually they will be mixed in with the general population,” he said, adding other high-profile inmates not initially released to the general inmate population have included those charged with homicide and crimes against children.

State attorneys said last week they intend to seek the death penalty against Altersberger, a Sebring resident.

Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin said last week that Altersberger’s trial might be at least two years away.

According to the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, Altersberger was arrested two years ago and charged with battery, aggravated assault with a weapon and cocaine possession.

Houchin said setting a trial date for Altersberger will take longer than any usual criminal trial, given the capital murder charges filed against him.