Marshals arrest man in connection with pointing assault weapon at officer

Officer fired three shots at man armed with assault rifle

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By Doug Page, Staff Writer Updated 3:44 PM Tuesday, July 6, 2010

DAYTON — U.S. marshals arrested a 20-year-old man today, July 6, who allegedly pointed an assault rifle at a Dayton police officer.

James C. Hughes, was found hiding in closet at his mother’s home on Riverside when the marshals arrived, Dayton Lt. Patrick Welsh said. He was turned over to Dayton police and booked into the county lockup, facing possible felonious assault charges.

Before his trip to the lockup, Hughes was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound. Hughes said he was not shot by police; rather he was shot prior to his June 29 confrontation with the police officer, Welsh said.

Officer Jerry Bell was patrolling the neighborhood around the Desoto Bass Courts around 2:40 a.m. after a night of reports of shots fired in the area. He spotted a young black male carrying what appeared to be a rifle.

The man ducked between two vacant houses on Clement Avenue. Bell followed into an overgrown backyard. Looking around the corner of the house, he saw the man holding the weapon in both hands.

He identified himself as a Dayton police officer and ordered the gunman several times to drop the weapon. “The suspect squared his shoulders with mine, looking at me, and his rifle barrel pointing directly at me,” Bell wrote in his report. Bell responded by firing three shots as he scrambled out of the line of fire.

The man dropped the weapon, a Maadi assault rifle with a sawed of stock and filed off serial number, and fled. Officers recovered the weapon, which was either unloaded or empty of ammunition.

Hughes told detectives that after being shot, he went home and got his weapon, Welsh said. He went looking for his assailant and that is when he ran into Officer Bell. Hughes denied pointing the weapon at the officer.

“He said he was scared after the officer shot at him and took off running,” Welsh said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2290 or dpage@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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