Crime & Safety

Deputies Use Tasers to Subdue Oconee County Man

Oconee County Sheriff's deputies responded to a domestic call where a shot had been fired Saturday night on Cobblestone Lane.

A 45-year-old man was subdued with tasers Saturday night after his wife called 911 and reported that he'd fired a handgun at their property following an argument.

Oconee County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the home on Cobblestone Lane about 11:30 p.m. The first deputy on scene found the man in the front yard and called out to him.  According to an incident report, the man turned his back and began walking back inside the house. 

"I believed that allowing the male to re-enter the house and possibly obtain the weapon would be an immediate risk to the safety of responding officers, the man's family, and himself," the deputy wrote in the report. 

The deputy then drew his pistol and ordered the man to stop and show his hands.  At first the man complied and stated that his weapon was unloaded and on the porch.  But when the deputy told the man multiple times to turn away from him and get on the ground, he says the man refused. 

"At that time the man reached with his left hand behind his back into the waistband area of his pants," according to the deputy's account. "At that time I informed the man that if he didn't show me his hands he would be killed. The man responded by saying 'Kill me. Go ahead.  I don't [expletive] care.  Kill me.'"

As the man pulled his hand out from behind his back, the deputy could see there wasn't a weapon, so the deputy pulled out his taser and deployed it.  One probe reportedly struck the man in the chest but the other failed to make contact.  A second deputy then arrived and deployed his taser.  That time both probes struck the man, causing him to fall to the ground where he hit his head on a plastic flower pot.  He was taken into custody.

During a subsequent investigation, the man's wife told deputies her husband had consumed alcohol earlier that evening and that the couple had been in an argument over the drinking.  According to the report, she said she went into her daughter's bedroom, where the girl was sleeping, and told her husband to leave her alone.  That's when she said her husband displayed the handgun and chambered a round while saying, "That's too bad, because you know what tonight is."  The wife said she called the Sheriff's Office after her husband left the room and slammed the door.

The man reportedly admitted to having fired one round from the back of the residence.

"The male stated that he had not intended to hurt anyone and that he understood why deputies had responded as they had," according to the report.

Deputies found the unloaded handgun on the front porch.  The investigation determined a single round had been fired, and the point of impact in the backyard was photographed.

The man was charged with simple assault.  His firearm, magazine and holster were taken into evidence.  Per procedure, the Division of Family and Children Services was notified, though it was noted in the report that the investigation determined the girl had been sleeping throughout the incident. 

On Sunday, Sheriff Scott Berry posted about the incident on Facebook.

"I appreciate not only the restraint our deputies demonstrated last night but also the tools we have at our disposal to end a confrontation such as this without having to resort to lethal, deadly force," he wrote.


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