In separate incidents Thursday, the suspects attempted to disarm Hagerstown police officers, according to the police department.
Initially, the officer received a cut to the back of his head and was treated and released that night from meritus medical center, the Lt. Gen. said. Rebecca Fechu, Hagerstown Police spokeswoman. Sergeant W. decker, who has worked for the police department for about 15 years, returned to work on friday.
In the second incident, the officer was not injured, fetchu said.
“These events underscore the dangers our officers face every day,” according to a statement from Hagerstown Police on the agency’s Facebook page. “We are thankful that no one was seriously injured.”
“both of these situations had the very real possibility of turning deadly,” the post says. “We are grateful for our officers who put their lives on the line, not knowing what a call for duty can turn into.”
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A post on the department’s Facebook page indicates the Thursday night incident began with a call from a suspicious vehicle related to possible drug trafficking.
Police were dispatched to the first block of North Locust Street and upon arrival the suspects fled, according to the Facebook post.
Police Chief Jon Molineaux found a suspect in a dead end, according to the publication and charging papers filed in Washington County District Court. Molineaux ordered, at gunpoint, the approaching suspect to stop. The suspect tried to run again and Molineaux grabbed him to stop him, but the suspect grabbed Molineaux’s gun before the officer could put it back in his holster, according to the release and court records.
“The officer had to physically remove his weapon from the suspect’s hands,” the post reads. “He managed to holster his gun and still control the suspect by taking him to the ground.”
Molineaux has been with the police department for nearly 15 years, Fetchu said.
richard gean loudin iv, 22, of hagerstown, was charged with disarming a law enforcement officer, obstructing and hindering, and resisting/interfering with arrest, according to online court records.
Loudin had a fanny pack containing more than 700 fentanyl pills, 26 grams of crack cocaine and nearly $4,000 in cash, according to the social media post.
Loudin also faces drug charges, including drug possession with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute a drug containing fentanyl, according to online court records.
suspect grabs a weapon during the Thursday morning incident
In the above incident Thursday, Leon Muhammed Lockley, 41, of the first block of East Avenue, was charged with disarming a law enforcement officer for allegedly attempting to remove Sgt. decker’s firearm, according to charging documents filed in washington county district court.
lockley was also charged with first degree assault on decker, reckless endangerment and three counts of second degree assault for allegedly assaulting three different hagerstown police officers on Thursday, according to court records.
During the incident, Decker twice deployed a stun gun on Lockley, according to court records. Lockley previously admitted that he took spices or synthetic cannabis, according to court records and fetchu.
None of the stun gun deployments incapacitated Lockley, but after the second time he curled up in a fetal position, records show. Once Lockley was taken to the hospital to have the stun gun probes removed, “it was discovered (that) the probes that may have made contact were not intact anywhere on the body,” according to court records.
District Court Judge Terry A. Myers ordered that Lockley be held without bail during a hearing Friday afternoon. Myers, noting that Lockley had no prior convictions and has lived in the community for quite some time, also said that he wants to know what was behind this episode and has ordered a competitive hearing.
Police responded to the first block of East Avenue around 10:09 AM. m. Thursday for what the police department’s Facebook post described as a “mental health related call where the officer was assessing the situation.”
decker found lockley, who had checked into a recovery center that morning but had returned home, according to court records.
decker wrote in the charging papers that lockley pointed him out and told him to handcuff him and take him to jail, but decker said he had no reason to and that’s not what he was there for. When Decker asked Lockley if he wanted to hurt himself, he said yes, but he didn’t tell Decker how he would hurt himself, according to court records. They were on the porch at the time, and there were other people on the porch who were still “bumping into our conversation,” Decker wrote.
decker wrote that he had lockley go into the house with him to get away from the other parties. Decker mentions that Lockley had “sporadic behavior” and called Lockley from the kitchen area to the dining room. As he spoke, Lockley “gave me no indication that he was under mental pressure,” Decker wrote.
fetchu said police have certain criteria that must be met to take someone to the hospital through an emergency request for a mental health evaluation. saying that he wanted to harm himself was not enough to justify such a request, he said.
decker watched lockley for other indicators that would require an emergency petition, but lockley didn’t meet the criteria, he said.
When Decker began talking to Lockley about the dangers of using spices, Lockley “sneaked a glance at my holstered service weapon and charged me,” Decker wrote in charging documents. Lockley allegedly grabbed Decker and brought him to the ground, where Lockley grabbed the holstered gun with his left hand and grabbed Decker with his right hand, according to court records.
decker wrote that he was able to “hold my service weapon in the holster and control his left arm with a control.”
decker ordered lockley to stop and drop the gun, according to court records. Once Decker had control of Lockley’s arms, he radioed for more units. Decker also ordered Lockley to drop the gun while the radio “was on,” according to court records. Lockley was on the ground during this incident, the officer wrote.
parties from the porch entered the house and yelled at lockley to stop. Several people began removing Lockley from the platform, according to court records.
Once Lockley was removed, Decker reached up to reach for his stun gun and Lockley began kicking him, according to court records. “Afraid he would get back on his feet and attack me again, I deployed the taser,” Decker wrote. when that didn’t have the “desired effect” and lockley continued to move, decker deployed it again.
About 2 seconds after Lockley curled up, other officers arrived and arrested Lockley, according to court records. Lockley began to resist as he was escorted out of the house.
Once in the hospital, Lockley became unruly and tried to get out of bed, saying “‘bbk,’ everyone kills,” according to court records. he cursed officer d. White and while chained up he charged at White, trying to kick him, according to court records. Lockley kneed White in the leg as White blocked the punch.
Lockley then charged three officers and White finally knocked Lockley to the ground, according to court records. While he was on the floor, Lockley allegedly tried to grab Officer J. Mull then grabbed White’s arm and tried to grab his belt, according to court records.
Police were able to put Lockley back on his bed, where he continued to struggle and try to bite, according to court records.