A Floyd County man was charged with many counts after reportedly jumping into the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy to avoid arrest and then resisting officers when they apprehended him.
According to the arrest citation, Floyd County Sheriff’s Deputy Allen May conducted a traffic stop on a 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck on U.S. 23 near Betsy Layne shortly after 2 a.m. on Feb. 19.
The driver moved into the highway’s median, May approached the vehicle and ordered the driver to pull to the side of the road so that both the occupants of the vehicle and the officer would be safer.
The driver ignored the officer’s directions and instead pulled onto the neighboring Justell Bridge, according to the citation. May said that when he asked the driver why he disregarded his command, he was told that the passenger, Donald R. Goble, 39, had told him to pull onto the bridge.
According to the citation, Goble provided the officer with the incorrect name and date of birth.
May wrote that, when he returned to the vehicle after checking information, Goble “bailed out” of the vehicle, and ran down the hill next to the bridge before leaping into the river.
According to the citation, the officers learned of a location across the bridge where Goble might be, and when they arrived, May saw footprints heading to the back of the house and into a train car. According to the citation, Goble was in the rail car when officers arrived, but after making contact, he climbed to the top of the train car and refused to obey officers’ verbal requests to come down.
According to the citation, Goble eventually fell over the other side of the train car and attempted to flee, prompting May to deploy his taser in an unsuccessful attempt to stop him.
Trooper Braxton Whitmore of the Kentucky State Police used his taser on Goble, allowing the cops to attempt to arrest him, according to May. However, according to the citation, Goble began to resist arrest and held his hands under his body to prevent authorities from arresting him.
May took Goble to Highlands ARH Regional Medical Center to be checked out for possible hypothermia after finally arresting him, and cited him on charges of second-degree fleeing or evading police (on foot), menacing, giving an officer false information, and resisting arrest before releasing him.