Parolee with ax subdued by taser
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Gail Gilmore
It was a tense 20 minutes last week as half a dozen sheriff’s deputies held off an ax-wielding parole violator.
Two Azle police officers used a Taser electric shock weapon to end the fracas 20 minutes after it started, according to police chief Steve Myers.
At 11 a.m. March 14, Sgt. S.L. Roy of Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) recognized a vehicle and driver as he patrolled Highway 199 south of Azle, according to his supervisor, Lt. Charles Eckert.
Roy stopped the vehicle in the parking lot of a gas station at Nine Mile Bridge Road. Roy verified that the driver, John Ledbetter, 38, was wanted for a parole violation and called for assistance, Eckert said, adding that Ledbetter has a reputation for violence.
When Sgt. Jerry Brown and Sgt. Mike Tosh (an Azle native) arrived, they asked Ledbetter to leave the vehicle.
He came out wielding a long-handled, doubled-bladed ax.
“We did everything short of shooting him,” TCSO spokesman Terry Grisham said. “We used pepper spray, baton strikes, nothing stopped him.
“We don’t carry Tasers,” Grisham continued. “Azle does.
“It saved that guy’s life.”
The deputies took several risks as they attempted to subdue Ledbetter without deadly force, Eckert said.
“Sgt Tosh leaned into the vehicle and took the keys out” when Ledbetter attempted to drive away, Eckert said. “We used almost a whole can of pepper spray on him and an asp (baton) on his ax arm.”
Using the spray and baton brought deputies well within reach of the ax.
“I’m so proud of these guys, at the restraint they used,” said Eckert, who reviewed a videotape of the incident. “There were several times they were justified in using deadly force.”
Eckert said the parking lot afforded deputies room to maneuver and surround Ledbetter.
At one point, civilians in harm’s way were ordered into the store. The store clerk was ordered to lock the door.
The deputies, now including two additional officers, managed to get Ledbetter to the back side of the store and surrounded him with their weapons drawn.
That was the situation as Azle police, Sgt. Bob Jones and officer Billy Thomson, arrived.
Jones had a brief conversation with the deputies “as he arrived,” Myers said this week.
“Then he tased (Ledbetter).”
“It worked,” Grisham said.
All parties contacted this week noted that one brief shot with the Taser resulted in immediate compliance.
“One Taser shot and he was down on the ground,” chief deputy Jay Six said. “Our department showed significant restraint.”
Azle police have seven Tasers, purchased for about $800 each with sales tax revenue collected by the city’s Crime Control and Prevention District.
The weapon has been a part of the Azle police arsenal for about two years.
Using a Taser is “not something we take lightly,” Myers said this week.
“Officers who carry one are re-trained every year. We file a report if the weapon is displayed (but not used) and if it is used,” he said. This was the third time Azle police have used a Taser, he said.
“You hear about the times someone dies” from a Taser hit, Myers said. “You don’t hear of the times like this when probably saved his life.”
“We’ve chosen not to carry (Tasers) because of those stories,” Grisham said of the TCSO. “But we were glad of Azle’s assistance.”
