MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis police officer found himself staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic rifle Tuesday after a man pulled the weapon on him at the intersection of Lamar and Democrat.
And to make matters worse, when officers pulled him over they found the fully loaded AR-15 and two boxes of ammunition sitting next to a 2-year-old child in the back seat.
The affidavit says when the children were removed from the car, they weren’t in car seats and reeked of marijuana.
Deshaun Dodson, 22, is charged with aggravated assault, two counts of child abuse, neglect and driving with a suspended license.
“This is happening to frequently, too many times,” said Michael Williams with the Memphis Police Association. “Whether we’re talking about police officers or in schools and businesses.”
This wasn’t a traffic stop.
The officer was patrolling in the area when Dodson approached him.
The affidavit says he pointed the rifle at the officer and said “I’ll blow your a** off. I got something for you.” and drove off.
“I know a lot of time people say that’s the nature of the job because police officer signed up for that, well they didn’t sign up to have an AR-15 or an assault rifle pointed at them if they’re just sitting in the car,” said Dodson.
Dodson was arrested just a few miles down the road at the intersection of Millbranch and Transport.
Iesha Lacy, the mother of the two children who was also in the car, is charged with two counts of child abuse and neglect.
“It’s probably fortunate that individual didn’t cut loose with that assault rifle. That could’ve been deadly,” Williams said.