Some say vests are not quite bulletproof

Makers of body armor are under attack in courts

By JOHN FLESHER Associated Press

Sunday, December 28, 2003

Central Lake, Mich. -- Richard Davis invented a flexible, concealable type of body armor after taking a bullet while delivering a pizza. He vouched for his products by donning them and shooting himself with a gun -- nearly 200 times over three decades.

The company that he founded in 1972, Second Chance Body Armor Inc., became the nation's biggest supplier of bulletproof vests to law enforcement agencies. It claims to have saved more than 920 wearers from death or serious injury.

Now, Second Chance is drawing fire of a different sort: allegations that its vests are defective.

The accusations raise questions about the reliability of body armor worn by thousands of police officers around the nation.

The controversy has generated at least six lawsuits, federal and state investigations, and finger-pointing between Second Chance and the producer of Zylon, a high-tech synthetic fiber woven into many of Second Chance's vests.

One lawsuit blames Second Chance armor in the shooting death of a California police officer last July. The latest case was this month by the State of Arkansas, demanding a $454,000 refund for 557 vests bought for officers there.

Cases also have been brought on behalf of vest buyers in Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois and Connecticut, where the state attorney general accused the company of causing police to play "real- life Russian roulette."

Second Chance, whose slogan is "We save lives," denies it has acted irresponsibly. Second Chance went public with concerns about Zylon in September and stopped making two vests containing the fabric.

"We've been in business for 32 years, and officer safety has always been our mission," said Paul Banducci, president of the company based in this town in Michigan's resort country, near Traverse City.

Also under scrutiny is Toyobo Co., the manufacturer of Zylon, the anti-ballistic fiber widely hailed as a technological breakthrough because of its strength and light weight.

About 200,000 of the nation's 700,000 police officers are believed to wear vests made with Zylon, said Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Toyobo, a Japanese company, acknowledges that tests show Zylon loses 10% to 20% of its durability within two years of manufacture.

Yet spokesman Kent Jarrell insists it works well in body armor that is properly constructed. "We stand by Zylon. We don't believe it is a defective product," he said.

Toyobo is a co-defendant in four of the lawsuits against Second Chance. The U.S. Justice Department last month began investigating the reliability of Zylon, which also is used by seven other body armor manufacturers in the United States and Canada. Toyobo and Pasco said they know of no complaints about vests made by the other companies.

Second Chance took the Ultima, a 100% Zylon vest weighing around 2 1/2 to 3 pounds, to market in 1999. Later came the Ultimax, a blend of Zylon and other fibers. The two thin, light vests eventually accounted for 40% of the company's sales.

After indications in July 2001 that Zylon fiber gradually degrades under prolonged exposure to high heat and humidity, Second Chance began testing its used vests for durability in 2002, Banducci said. Some wore out more quickly than expected.

Then came the June 13 death of Tony Zeppetella, 27, of the police department in Oceanside, Calif. Also in June, a .40-caliber bullet punched through the Ultima vest worn by officer Edward Limbacher of Forest Hills, Pa. He survived, but the bullet remains in his abdomen.

Second Chance discontinued the Ultima and Ultimax in September. It offered to upgrade those in circulation by supplying extra padding or to give a steep discount on new vests with different fibers.

In the meantime, police organizations are begging street cops not to give up on bulletproof vests. "We've heard anecdotally that some police executives have suggested that officers not wear them," Pasco said. "That is the height of irresponsibility. A vest that's possibly deficient is far better than no vest at all."

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