Police avert potentially deadly situation
Incident involving gun forced diversion of traffic on Karsch
By DOUG SMITH
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 10:36 AM CDT
Traffic on westbound Karsch Boulevard/Route 32 was diverted for a time past the Joyce Drive residential area adjacent to the Maple Valley shopping complex. Police were concerned that a shot from a high-powered rifle the man was wielding could potentially reach traffic and penetrate a vehicle.
The first call came into the police station at about 4 p.m. Monday. A woman was reporting her husband was upset and had taken a rifle and shotgun to a shed in the couple’s backyard of their home off Joyce Drive. Several officers quickly converged on the scene and began evacuating the immediate area.
Chief of Police Rick Baker and Lt. Chris Bullock headed up command on the situation. At first contact with the man, the chief later said that at first contact with the man it was obvious he was intoxicated and angry and kept telling officers that “this is the day.”
It was decided to divert traffic on the westbound lanes of Karsch Boulevard/Route 32 due to its close proximity to the scene of the incident. The eastbound lanes of the same roadway were naturally shielded by a concrete barrier in place. Later in the evening the man would eventually be talked into relinquishing the high-powered rifle, at which time it was decided to open traffic on the nearby road.
Baker said the man was extremely threatening in his talk and actions when police first arrived. He repeatedly waved the two weapons in the direction of officers. During the next three hours officers talked to the man nonstop and eventually convinced him to give up the rifle. They were finally able to calm the man down to the point of taking the shotgun from him and then took him into custody.
Other weapons were removed from the home and the man was transported to Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center for a psychiatric evaluation.
Baker said officers will complete reports and submit them to the prosecuting attorney’s office seeking a charge of “unlawful use of a weapon” relating to the man flourishing a gun and threatening his wife prior to the police arriving at the home.
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Reader Comments (11)The comments below are from readers and do not represent the views of the Daily Journal
tiredofthebull posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Mrs Wakefield... true... and it is good to see someone around here with some family values....
My personal feelings toward most towns and police departments are the same..
Across the board.. from cities, to St. Francois county, to the state and federal govt.. we need a clean slate, a complete changing of the guard...
America relies on welfare and handouts too much.. no one takes personal responsibility anymore..
Cops, state reps, senators.. being charged with crimes....
ALL law enforcement and elected officials.. those who WRITE and ENFORCE the law, (in my humble opinion) need to be held to a higher standard.. they should not be allowed an opportunity to "make a mistake"...
If they are charged in court, they should be stepping down from their job...
They choose to get into law enforcement and politics.. they should understand the ramifications of their actions...
Until this happens, I will continue to vocalize my support of Cheif Wakefield needing to be replaced by the city...
Brad Robinson should have stepped down, at least he didn't run again for office....
My personal feelings toward most towns and police departments are the same..
Across the board.. from cities, to St. Francois county, to the state and federal govt.. we need a clean slate, a complete changing of the guard...
America relies on welfare and handouts too much.. no one takes personal responsibility anymore..
Cops, state reps, senators.. being charged with crimes....
ALL law enforcement and elected officials.. those who WRITE and ENFORCE the law, (in my humble opinion) need to be held to a higher standard.. they should not be allowed an opportunity to "make a mistake"...
If they are charged in court, they should be stepping down from their job...
They choose to get into law enforcement and politics.. they should understand the ramifications of their actions...
Until this happens, I will continue to vocalize my support of Cheif Wakefield needing to be replaced by the city...
Brad Robinson should have stepped down, at least he didn't run again for office....
whoopdeedoo posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
So my response is a tad bit late, some of us have lives. I needed to comment back to Tiredofthebull because he is obviously uninformed.
How can you NOT take cheap shots at Farmington, you ask?? Ask questions, that's how....be informed. Farmington does have their own electric company, and when the power goes out in Farmington, it stays out for an hour or two...a slight inconvenience compared to the days and sometimes weeks ameren customers go without power. Their own dispatch?? Ask the Farmington residents who call Farmington dispatch and get help above and beyond the call of duty from a dispatcher who is familiar with the city, the businesses, residents and how everything works. Heck ask the residents of other towns who call Farmington dispatch to get answers. They may not (or may) be able to walk you through CPR, but seem to be pretty knowledgable when it comes to police matters.
I'm a proud resident of Farmington, and the perks of living here (such as having our own electric departmenet, dispatch and full time fire department) are what keep me here.
How can you NOT take cheap shots at Farmington, you ask?? Ask questions, that's how....be informed. Farmington does have their own electric company, and when the power goes out in Farmington, it stays out for an hour or two...a slight inconvenience compared to the days and sometimes weeks ameren customers go without power. Their own dispatch?? Ask the Farmington residents who call Farmington dispatch and get help above and beyond the call of duty from a dispatcher who is familiar with the city, the businesses, residents and how everything works. Heck ask the residents of other towns who call Farmington dispatch to get answers. They may not (or may) be able to walk you through CPR, but seem to be pretty knowledgable when it comes to police matters.
I'm a proud resident of Farmington, and the perks of living here (such as having our own electric departmenet, dispatch and full time fire department) are what keep me here.
WAKEFIELD SINCE '74 posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 7:56 am
I'm not a MR., I'm a MRS. and Wakefield is my maiden name. I'm VERY proud of that name and have been since '74 when I was born. I TOTALLY support my family and feel like you give my father and other police departments a hard time, you aren't there first hand (or are you?)....that is ONLY reason I comment on this blog. Post negative comments toward me if you like, it's your right. But what kind of daughter would I be if I didnt support my father 100%.
You can't knock me for that.
You can't knock me for that.
tiredofthebull posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 7:20 am
Mr. Wakefield - due to the sensitive nature of my job, I cannot disclose what I do for a living. Please do not be scared.
Second - I pick on Leadington, Desloge, Farmington and Bonne Terre equally - police AND city govt. (you can read my thoughts on Bonne Terre's truck restrictions if you wish.)
It just happens that Leadington police are always in the paper.. but you know when there are 2 crimes in the cheif's family, and never any follow up it really makes you wonder what goes on over there.
I applaud the efforts of Ste. Genevive this past week in catching a murderer... makes me think about moving - can't catch an "alleged" kidnapping gunman in Leadington, but they can catch a murderer in a week one county over...
There are certain cities in this county that are corrupt and need a changing of the guard. (Maybe the one I live in included).
Second - I pick on Leadington, Desloge, Farmington and Bonne Terre equally - police AND city govt. (you can read my thoughts on Bonne Terre's truck restrictions if you wish.)
It just happens that Leadington police are always in the paper.. but you know when there are 2 crimes in the cheif's family, and never any follow up it really makes you wonder what goes on over there.
I applaud the efforts of Ste. Genevive this past week in catching a murderer... makes me think about moving - can't catch an "alleged" kidnapping gunman in Leadington, but they can catch a murderer in a week one county over...
There are certain cities in this county that are corrupt and need a changing of the guard. (Maybe the one I live in included).
anomalouspropagation posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 12:16 am
Not a ballistic expert but my "real life" experience with high powered rifles-ie. AR-15, AK-47, SKS, M-16 etc. will clearly prove that cement is no match for those projectiles. However, concrete will cause richocheting depending on the consistency, angle at which struck, ballistic type, powder to mass ratio and so on. Neat thing about mortar/"cement", and other building materials is they don't stop bullets very good! In the case of concrete and richocheting I'm certainly happy Law Enforcement considered kinetic and potential energy and the fact that a richochet doesn't follow the standard arc of a projectile. But hey, any bullet will kill. I think Farmington did a swell job on this one but I would've liked a bigger zone evacuated and secured.
WAKEFIELD SINCE '74 posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
tiredofthebull.....
I would love to know what line of work you are in. You seem to/try to come off like you are involved in some kind of law enforcement. Which scares the heck out of me. Hope I'm not depending on YOU to keep me safe.
You are such an authority on EVERY police department in the area. I love how you find something wrong with every single story that is printed in the paper.
You poor, miserable thing.
I would love to know what line of work you are in. You seem to/try to come off like you are involved in some kind of law enforcement. Which scares the heck out of me. Hope I'm not depending on YOU to keep me safe.
You are such an authority on EVERY police department in the area. I love how you find something wrong with every single story that is printed in the paper.
You poor, miserable thing.
tiredofthebull posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I'm sorry - you can't help but take cheap shots at farmington.... they ask for it every time..
as for Joyce Dr. Hmmmm just across the highway is Value City, Aarons, the movie theater, office max.....
I'm not a ballistics expert, but one would think that they do richochet off of concrete when fired out of a high power rifle....
Hmmmm.. Farmington has to have it's own electric company (power never stays on), they have to have their own police dispatch, can't use the county 911 dispatch where operations can be streamlined...
Should I go on?
as for Joyce Dr. Hmmmm just across the highway is Value City, Aarons, the movie theater, office max.....
I'm not a ballistics expert, but one would think that they do richochet off of concrete when fired out of a high power rifle....
Hmmmm.. Farmington has to have it's own electric company (power never stays on), they have to have their own police dispatch, can't use the county 911 dispatch where operations can be streamlined...
Should I go on?
whoopdeedoo posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 8:20 pm
To TiredoftheBull: You're absolutely correct. Police officers DO NOT get paid near what they are worth. I make slightly less than what Farmington officers make starting out, and my customers never spit on me, shoot at me or try to whoop my butt. I am eternally grateful the officers are there to deal with all the crime that we don't even hear about...keeping us, the naive public, safe. We all owe a big thank you to Farmington PD and all the other local law enforcement agencies. You guys are doing a fantastic job.
As for shutting down the shopping areas during this particular situation.....WHY??? Do you even know where Joyce Drive is located?? I suggest you get a map....immediately. Mabe then you would understand why they didn't, and would refrain from taking such cheap shots at the City of Farmington.
As for shutting down the shopping areas during this particular situation.....WHY??? Do you even know where Joyce Drive is located?? I suggest you get a map....immediately. Mabe then you would understand why they didn't, and would refrain from taking such cheap shots at the City of Farmington.
imlcitizen posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Good Job to the officers who responded to this event. Obviously, this man was struggling. I don't know his history, but hopefully, he will get an evaluation at the mental health center. Your time spent waiting for this man to calm down enough to get him to respond to you and agree to turn over the weapons, probaby did save lives. In January, 2006, I was involved in a situation where a Mental Health Consumer was paranoid, and feared for his life. The 3 officers from the St Francois County Sheriff's department responded. There approach was remarkable. It took some time, but they were able to calm the person down, and get him to agree to go to the hospital. These are officers that are working with the community, and not coming in like gang busters.
tiredofthebull posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 12:43 pm
First, good job to the officers for using non-lethal force. I will always say the cops don't get paid near enough for what they do on a daily basis.
I must say I do get cracked up when I read how the immediate area was evacuated, 1/2 of Karsh was closed, but the shopping areas nearby weren't.
Can't loose too many tax dollars now can we Farmington
I must say I do get cracked up when I read how the immediate area was evacuated, 1/2 of Karsh was closed, but the shopping areas nearby weren't.
Can't loose too many tax dollars now can we Farmington
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Property values... overinflated by 50k because of a zip code...
my power goes out when there is a real storm.. the kind that knocks out power to 1000's of people..
not a lunchtime every thrusday.. slight inconvience isn't the word i would choose..
paying more for a marked up service that is horrible...
I have a friend that works at S&R in Farmington.. power goes out there more than I go to the rest room on a daily basis anymore.. you would think a big utility spender would get some assurances....
Keep your highbrow town.. pay more for your electric.. my bill was $58.00 last month for 3 bedroom central air and heat.. what did you pay?? I'll save my money.. go waste yours...