Not my personal contact with LEO, but definitely what we need more of:
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Heroic man quashes attack on woman: 'He drew down his mini Glock and he stopped it'
Thursday, 15 October 2009 18:05 Bruce Alsobrook
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A Point man is being lauded for his courage after he pulled a gun to stop a man from beating up his girlfriend in a Sulphur Springs parking lot Wednesday.
The modern day knight in shining armor was legally carrying a concealed handgun and must have had a good instructor, said Sulphur Springs Police Capt. Norman Colyer, who is also certified to teach concealed handgun courses.
“He was right on the money,” Colyer said.
Lt. Antwone Young and officer Ronny Doss were sent to the VF Outlet Mall parking lot about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday to answer a report of a disturbance involving a gun. They found two men and a woman standing by a silver 2009 Hyundai Alantra and a pickup.
The woman pointed to one of the men and said, “He has a gun.” Officers could see a bulge above his right rear pocket and under his shirt, and ordered him to get on the ground, and both men were quickly in handcuffs.
It didn’t take long to figure out the 27-year-old Point man wasn’t the bad guy, however.
The 27-year-old woman who had been assaulted told officers that she was driving the Hyundai with James Douglas Arnold, 51, in the parking lot when the assault occurred. She said Arnold has been her boyfriend for several years but added that he had assaulted her many times in the past.
They decided to go to Whataburger, but when she turned the wheel to leave the parking lot, Arnold told her to let him drive. She refused. This apparently made Arnold “very angry,” as he suddenly grabbed her by the head and attempted to pull her from the driver’s seat. She said she almost struck a tree at the edge of the parking lot before applying the brakes at the last second.
Across the parking, lot, the Point man and another passerby, a retired Yantis man, heard the woman yelling.
“He heard her screaming ‘Help!’ at the top of her lungs,” Colyer said.
Both men made their way across the lot, and said they saw Arnold making punching motions and appeared to be striking the woman. And apparently, the Point man had seen enough as he got out of his pickup and walked over the Hyundai.
“He drew down with his mini Glock, and he stopped it,” Colyer said. “He told the guy to stop and get on the ground.”
He then called police for help. After they arrived, the Yantis man who’d witnessed the events corroborated his statements. The Point man was released and thanked for his service.
James Douglas Arnold was taken to the county jail, where he was booked on a second-degree felony charge of assault-family violence. He remained in jail this morning.
Colyer said the Point man may have done more than simply stop a scuffle between lovers.
“For all we know, he could have saved her from serious injury,” he said.
The police captain also said his actions underscored the value of concealed handgun training, which has far more to do with the intellectual side of the use of weapons than target practice.
“It doesn’t teach you how to shoot,” Colyer explained. “Most of it is about the law.”
And much of that information, Colyer added, deals with the use of force — when it’s appropriate, how much is necessary and what the consequences are.
“It’s to teach you when you can use force and what’s going to happen when you do,” he said.
Wednesday’s incident was such a textbook example of proper use of force, he added, he expects that he’ll use it in his own classes.
Colyer also plans to express his thanks in another way.
“I’m going to call him and tell him that when he gets ready to renew his license, it’s on me,” Colyer said.
