Lots of people throughout our nation have tough jobs, but not all of them leave the employee broken and bloody. That’s precisely how one West Virginia lady was left after her duties found her in a desperate defense of her life– all since she was just a lady trying to do her job.
Kristen Richmond, a West Virginia constable’s deputy, wound up in the battle of her life when she was severely beaten after reacting to what ought to have been a relatively typical call. The Brooke County officer shared images of her bloodied and severely battered face on Facebook as the resilient lady offered her account of occasions. Maybe more stunning than the images is the troubling fact that the courageous lady was left with a damaged nose, fractured sinus, damaged glasses, and lacerations to her hands, face, and head, in addition to lots of bumps and contusions.
According to the Wheeling News-Register, Richmond was among 2 deputies hurt while reacting to a call about a Bethany College trainee who was bleeding and tossing things out of a third-floor window at the college dorm room, early one fateful Friday early morning. When Richmond got here, she discovered 21-year-old Brandon Lamar Jackson, of Decatur, Georgia, bleeding and not wearing any clothes.
According to a statement from Capt. Darin Pizer, the deputy attempted to approach Jackson, who is a student staff member at the school, to ask him what was wrong , however, Jackson had a blank gaze, was having difficulty speaking, and seemed to be hallucinating. The police quickly understood the man was “gooned up” on an unidentified compound.
“The deputy attempted to detain the subject, who pulled away, attempted to strike the deputy in the face then began to flee on foot,” Pizer explained. “The deputy then began to pursue after the subject. A K-9 was deployed, the subject then curled up in a corner of the exterior of one of the buildings.” But, things were far from over.
She was able to get one of Jackson’s arms in handcuffs, according to the Capt. Pizer’s declaration, Jackson pulled away once again. When things went from bad to even worse, this is.
“All the K-9 bites, punches, knees, and baton strikes did not deter this guy. He wasn’t there. The drug had consumed every part of him,” Richmond, who is the handler of K-9 Officer Dakota, discussed in a post on Facebook later that night, identifying herself and telling her side of the story.
“The subject was told he was under arrest, he then began to strike the deputy in the head and face numerous times as the struggle ensued,” the police statement said. According to Richmond, her communication with other deputies had been cut off, leaving her to fight Jackson, who she described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall and a “collegiate male athlete, who was gooned up on an unknown drug” alone. “I managed to stay in the fight and maintain some control despite exchanging punches and knees with the subject,” she said.
“It was me and him for about five minutes,” she recalled. “My glasses were shattered and knocked off my face, none of my radio transmissions got out, and a ton of equipment was stripped from my vest and duty belt.” Richmond released her canine once again as 2 other deputies showed up. Jackson apparently bit among the other officers and battled up until the group lastly got him in handcuffs.
“While fighting with this guy, he reached for my duty weapon,” Richmond wrote in her post. “Given the circumstances, deadly force was warranted and it was probably getting close to my last resort. Thankfully, it did not reach that point.”
Richmond stated she wasn’t publishing to Facebook for “the glory,” but rather to advise other officers to be ready for circumstances like the one she came across.
“I took my bloody uniform, duty belt, and gear inside with me and dropped it on the floor,” Richmond wrote.
“I took my tired K-9 partner to her crate so she could get some much-deserved rest. I went upstairs, undressed, turned on the hot water in the shower, stepped in and washed his and my blood off my body. I watched it circle the drain not knowing whose exactly it was. Not a lot of people know what it’s like to do that,” she continued.
“No, we don’t get into fights like these every day, but they do happen … along with situations that are far worse,” she continued. “Please take a few moments to consider everything that we go through before jumping to conclusions based off slanted media and facts. At the end of the day, we are exactly like all of you ‘normal’ people. We just want to go home after work.”
Although Richmond hopes her post will remind others of the dangers cops endure, We hope it reminds the public of something else: The dangers of drug use. Brandon Lamar Jackson, who was committed to a regional healthcare facility and moved to a center in Pittsburgh, had his whole life ahead of him, along with the advantage of getting a college education. Instead of delighting in all life has to offer, he will, ideally, be behind bars, where he belongs after making the devastating choice to take drugs.
Because his decision put an officer’s life at risk, and particularly that of a lady: he must suffer the proper repercussions. Substance abuse isn’t a victimless criminal activity. It impacts everybody around the user — in some cases, in an incredibly ruthless fashion, as Kristen Richmond learned.
H/T TapHaps
