Posted on 03/17/2017 7:09:31 PM PDT by MtnClimber
A judge in Lee County, Florida just cleared a concealed carrier of all charges stemming from a shooting back in mid-November. Lee County Deputy Dean Bardes was assisting two Florida High Patrol officers at an accident on I-75 when he saw a car speed by. He jumped in his patrol car and went after the car to conduct a traffic stop. Before Bardes could pull the car over, the driver pointed a gun at the deputy and continued fleeing. The driver, 53-year-old Edward Strother, eventually stopped on a freeway offramp. Strother pulled Bardes out of patrol car and pinned him to the ground. He continually punched the officer as he reached for the officers duty weapon. Ashad Russell saw the dangerous encounter taking place and decided to step in. Russell drew his firearm and approached Strother. He fired his handgun three times, striking the suspect and freeing the officer. Once the officer was free, Russell dropped the gun and waited for additional police officers to arrive on the scene. Emergency personnel took the suspect to the hospital where he passed away. Following the incident, Sheriff Mike Scott took to Facebook to thank Russell for saving his deputys life.
(Excerpt) Read more at bearingarms.com ...
If so he should open a Go Fund Me page. I am sure he would find many who have sympathy.
right is right...
Collectivist thugs of the press always assume self defense is crime.
I hear what you’re saying but if you are actually in that situation I bet you would do the right thing and come to the aid of the cop up to and including shooting the perp if necessary. Thankfully you will probably never know because it’s so rare that anyone finds themselves in this kind of situation.
If the good Samaritan did accrue any legal fees I would hope the city would pick up the tab on purely moral grounds. By saving the cops life the city saved a ton of money in payouts and training another officer to take his place or just being a man short while the cop healed up from an injury. Far more than what legal fees the good Samaritan accrued.
Because the dead perp was black?
Edward Strother:
What if that was you, you not necessarily being a cop, but someone simply getting their skull beat in while others watched? Would you want a good Samaritan to step up and stop the person who was beating you to death?
In this case guys, I’d give the State a bit of a break. None of us know what communications took place between the State and the Citizen early on. Additionally, it takes time to get the M.E.’s official report back. There were lots of witness to the event and each needed to be interviewed. I am not shocked that it took this long, although any of us would hope it would be sooner.
I have been associated with officer shootings, and even in an obvious “good shoot,” it takes time to get a formal decision issued. This, even when the State wants and needs to get the officer back on the street. From this article, I believe the charges “were not dropped,” because there were no charges in the first place. This Citizen may not have been on pins and needles the whole time had he had communication from the State in the interim. There is a lot not known by us.
that was a good thing he did. There are good people in every group. I just wish there were more in that group. he should be the example. And Sheriff Clarke. Not Sharpton
Edward Strother got that smirk wiped off his face.
Thank you, Mr. Good Samaritan.
Would I want that? Obviously. Would I expect it? Not in the least. I do not expect of others that which I don’t expect of myself.
Perhaps the article is in error?
He was cleared by the State AG weeks ago. I have no idea what this ‘judge’ thing is.
He was cleared weeks ago.
“Probably wiped out the guy’s life savings paying the lawyers and that’s with a good outcome. “
Probably NOT!
“That will make you think twice about saving a cop.”
Comments here make me google twice to get the REAL story ...
You must know some inexpensive lawyers.
You maybe - not me. We have no info on the background of what took so long to "get it settled". Was there a lawsuit involved? Was there background info about the good Samaritan that saved the cop?
When good people do nothing, evil wins - I'm not going to roll over for evil.
My CCL instructor told us that the context of using a firearm with a CCL license is that it’s a $50,000.00 round.
If you discharge, you will spend $50K defending that decision in court, even if it was a righteous decision.
That’s not enough to keep you from saving a life. $50K to save a life? Cheap.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.