PALESTINE —
A 58-year-old Frankston woman is being held in the Anderson County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond following her arrest Thursday for allegedly pointing a shotgun at officers and attempting to fire the weapon.
Debra Jo Johnson, 58, of Frankston remained in the jail Saturday afternoon on the first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault on a public servant, according to Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor.
Johnson's bond was set by Anderson County Justice of the Peace Gary Thomas.
At about 8:50 a.m. Thursday, Taylor said Anderson County sheriff's deputies Donnie Myers and John Wright responded to a residence in the 2700 block of CR 319 near the Pine Dunes Golf Club outside of Frankston after being requested to perform a welfare check on the person residing there.
“We got a call from a concerned citizen to check her welfare,” the sheriff said. “She had apparently been having problems...it appeared to them.”
Upon their arrival, the deputies went around to the back of the house, knocked on the door and made contact with the resident, according to Taylor.
“They made contact with her and she (Johnson) starts yelling at them, ‘Go away, get off my property,’” Taylor said. “She disappeared for a second and comes back with a shotgun. The deputies retreated off the porch and took cover.”
Deputies then attempted to persuade the woman to drop the Mossberg 500 Model 20-gauge shotgun, according to the sheriff.
“They saw her manipulating the firearm, taking it off safety,” Taylor said. “She pointed it at them several times and tried to pull the trigger. Fortunately, the gun was empty, but she apparently didn't know that.”
The incident ended when Johnson ultimately walked out of her front door unarmed and “surrendered.”
Taylor estimated the entire incident lasted “a little less than 20 minutes.”
The sheriff said the woman has been evaluated by representatives of ACCESS.
“I thank God my officers and her are still alive because it could have been really bad,” Taylor said. “Fortunately, the gun didn't fire and we were able to take her into custody without anybody getting hurt.”
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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com
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