Officer fires at fleeing suspect who tried to run him over
Published 9:58 pm Friday, September 11, 2009
No one was injured, but a Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force member was forced to fire a shot at a suspect who attempted to run him over while fleeing arrest.
Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Charles Allan Edmondson, 41, at about 4 p.m. today near the First Baptist Church in Columbiana.
A press release issued Friday evening by Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry’s office said task force members, who were holding two outstanding felony warrants for Edmondson’s arrest, were surveilling him when they saw him driving in a vehicle in Columbiana. They attempted to stop the vehicle, but Edmondson refused to stop and attempted to run over the task force investigator, the sheriff’s press release said.
The investigator fired one shot attempting to stop the vehicle as he was trying to get out of its path. A short pursuit ended when Edmondson stopped his vehicle and was arrested.
The warrants for Edmondson’s arrest at the time of the incident included unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. Both are felony warrants and were issued with a “no bond” condition, the press release said. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office will seek additional charges after today’s incident.
No one was injured as a result of the event and Edmondson is being held in the Shelby County Jail.
Curry thanked the officers involved.
“The arrest of a wanted person is one of the most dangerous tasks we undertake and I am thankful that we were able to affect this arrest without anyone getting injured,” he said.
Curry said the Sheriff’s Office will review this incident according to its “Use of Force” and “Arrest Procedure” policies.