A domestic call Monday escalated quickly for Walton County Sheriff’s Deputies when the suspect retrieved a rifle from his vehicle and ordered them off his property.
The incident began just after 9 p.m. on Jan. 16, 2017, when WCSO Deputies responded to a domestic call at a home off Magnolia Ridge in Monroe. The complainant reported that her husband was outside the house and was very irate. According to the WCSO Incident Report, he had destroyed a television, thrown over a dining table and destroyed a picture frame, spreading glass all over the floor. This had happened in front of the victim’s 8-year-old daughter.
When the deputies approached the suspect, who was at the time loading stuff into a vehicle in the driveway, he told them it was private property and they needed to leave. He then reached into the vehicle and retrieved a 40 cal rifle. Deputy Mark Hess drew his weapon and ordered the suspect to put the rifle down. A tense couple of minutes followed with the suspect refusing to drop it and urging the deputy to kill him. The following Youtube video chronicles the encounter, which ended when the deputies were able to overpower the suspect and get control of the weapon. Deputy Bobby Galicia was able to help Hess wrestle the rifle from the suspect without any shots being fired. Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman said the deputy had been fully within his rights to shoot the suspect.
“He could have, probably should have, but he didn’t,” Chapman said. “Deputy Hess had every right to shoot that guy and probably should have. He could have been killed.”
Robert Clinton Bradley was arrested and charged with two counts of simple assault, three counts of obstruction of an officer and criminal trespass following a dispute.. He was referred by the nurse at the jail to Clearview Regional Medical Center to check on an injury to his mouth that occurred during the fight to get control of the firearm. Bradley told deputies at the time that he believed his jaw had been broken. According to the WCSO Incident Report, however, emergency staff at Clearview said he had a cut on the inside of his mouth that did not require treatment. He was then transported back to the jail. Editor’s Note: An arrest or charge does not constitute a conviction.
Warning: Graphic language