A West Virginia sheriff’s deputy received the fright of her life when she was brutally beat by a 21-year-old college athlete high on an unknown drug while on duty.
Brooke County officer Kristen Richmond shared photos of her bloodied and badly battered face and her account of the close call on Friday.
Richmond responded to a call at Bethany College where the suspect Brandon Jackson was throwing things out a third floor dorm window and began to fight with her, breaking her glasses and reaching for her duty weapon.
West Virginia sheriff’s deputy Kristen Richmond was badly beaten while on duty, responding to a call about 21-year-old drugged up college athlete Brandon Jackson
Bloody and bruised: She shared pictures of her wounds on Facebook to remind followers of the dangers cops face in the field
She revealed that her glasses were shattered in the altercation and he reached for her weapon
But Richmond put up a fight, wrestling the 5ft11, 195lbs ‘collegiate male athlete’ who was ‘gooned up on an unknown drug’ for about five minutes.
‘It was me and him for about five minutes. During said altercation, my glasses were shattered and knocked off my face, none of my radio transmissions got out, and a ton of equipment was stripped from my vest and duty belt,’ she said.
‘I managed to stay in the fight and maintain some control despite exchanging punches and knees with the subject,’ she added.
Even after she partially handcuffed him and her K9 partner attacked him, the suspect did not stop fighting the officer.
‘All the K9 bites, punches, knees, and baton strikes did not deter this guy. He wasn’t there. The drug had consumed every part of him,’ she said.
‘After about five minutes of fighting, my partners finally found us (due to lack of comms) and, after several more minutes of fighting, we were able to secure him in cuffs ending the fight,’ she added.
‘My glasses were shattered and knocked off my face, none of my radio transmissions got out, and a ton of equipment was stripped from my vest and duty belt,’ she said
She and her K9 officer tackled Jackson for five minutes until her partners came and helped subdue and handcuff him
She added that at one point Jackson reached for her duty weapon.
‘Given the circumstances … deadly force was warranted and it was probably getting close to my last resort. Thankfully, it did not reach that point,’ she said.
Instead of using deadly force against him, she put up a fight – crediting her training to her handling of the dire situation.
‘I’ve been beat to hell and back in training so I knew how to react and fight through being repeatedly being struck in the face and head. I didn’t freak out,’ she said.
Eventually with the help of her partners Jackson was handcuffed and taken away. He was taken to a local hospital and transferred to a facility in Pittsburgh, according to Fox.
The sheriff’s deputy suffered a broken nose, fractured sinus, and some other bumps and lacerations to the hands, face, and head in the incident, pictured with K9 officer
She says she hopes her message gives a ‘swift kick in the a** to a lot of cops’ to take their training seriously and to be there for their partners.
She added that cops too are ‘normal people’ adding ‘We just want to go home after work’
Officer Richmond suffered a broken nose, fractured sinus, and some other bumps and lacerations to the hands, face, and head.
The incident is under investigation and charges are pending, according to WTHR.
Sharing her harrowing story on Facebook she says she hopes her message gives a ‘swift kick in the a** to a lot of cops’ to take their training seriously and to be there for their partners.
‘They’re your family and when you find yourself in a dark corner at 0300 praying for backup, they’re gonna be the ones who come running,’ she said.
She added cops are ‘normal people’ just like anyone else.
‘We just want to go home after work,’ she said.