By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH
SEMO News Service
BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- An alleged suicidal man has been charged with holding a Stoddard County Ambulance crew against its will at his Puxico, Mo., residence Tuesday afternoon.
Glenn Richard Spikes, 60, was charged with two Class C felonies of felonious restraint, the unclassified felony of armed criminal action and three counts Class C felonies second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer/ emergency personnel by Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver.
The complaint on file with the court alleges Spikes "knowingly restrained" Tyler Juden, who is a paramedic, and Chuck Edwards, who is an emergency medical technician, unlawfully and without consent ... and exposed them to serious physical injury.
Further, Spikes allegedly recklessly placed Stoddard County Cpl. Travis Stafford, Edwards and Juden "in immediate serious physical injury by aiming a handgun" at the men.
According to Stafford's probable cause statement, he learned at about 12:15 p.m. Tuesday that an ambulance crew was "being held against their will at gunpoint by a suicidal subject outside of Puxico at a residence" located in the 7600 block of Highway PP.
"We received a call for a patient; he apparently had called a help line (suicide hotline), seeking some help," explained Dave Cooper, Stoddard County Ambulance Service manager.
Hotline personnel, he said, subsequently contacted the sheriff's department, which "dispatched us. ... They had an officer en route. Our staff got on scene and entered the scene prior to law enforcement arriving. That's when they were confronted with the weapon."
The alleged confrontation, Cooper said, took place outside the home.
"The staff was able to get a radio call (out reporting) they had a situation," Cooper said.
Since the residence was about a mile or two outside the Puxico city limits, Cooper said, a Puxico officer arrived first, followed by the deputy.
When Stafford arrived, according to his report, he saw one EMS member behind a tree crouched down.
"I asked him where the individual was with the gun, and he pointed to the garage area of the residence," Stafford said. "I then approached the garage on foot with my weapon drawn."
From the front of garage, Stafford said, he saw a white male, later identified as Spikes, sitting in a chair.
"When (Spikes) saw me, he jumped up, grabbed a black handgun and raised it in my direction," Stafford explained.
At that point, Stafford said, he ordered Spikes to lower his weapon.
"(Spikes) looked at me, then lowered his weapon to his side and then put it down," Stafford said.
Spikes, who was ordered to lie face down on the ground, then was taken into custody without incident, said Stafford, who described Spikes as being "heavily intoxicated."
Stafford said Spikes was having difficulty speaking clearly and his eyes were watery and bloodshot. There also was a strong odor of an intoxicant about Spikes' person, he said.
After Spikes was placed in handcuffs, Stafford said, the man stated: "'I'm sorry, you don't know what it's like.' (Spikes) became angry and demanded I release him from custody."
Spikes, Stafford said, then allegedly made threats against the deputy.
When Stafford subsequently contacted Juden and Edwards, he said, he learned Spikes had "grabbed a handgun, pointed it at himself and them several times" as they were "making contact" with him upon their arrival.
In his written statement, Juden said, he and Edwards had approached the home through an open garage door.
"(Spikes) then exited the residence," Juden said. "We asked (him) if he was OK. (He) then stated: 'No, I'm not.'"
At that point, Juden said, Spikes walked toward a table and chair.
"I thought that he was just going to sit," Juden said. "(He) then picked up a handgun. My partner and I then ran."
With Juden and Edwards on separate sides of the home, Juden said, Spikes "entered and exited the garage multiple times, waving the handgun and pointing it at each of us multiple times."
At one point, Juden said, Edwards yelled commands to Spikes, who complied.
"(Spikes) was in the driveway on his knees with his hands on his head, unarmed," Juden said.
After persons Juden described as landowners arrived, Spikes allegedly got back up, went into the garage, retrieved the gun and began pointing it again.
Juden said Spikes allegedly placed the handgun to his temple at one point before re-entering the garage.
The situation, according to Cooper, was "over with pretty quick. Law enforcement was on the scene pretty quick. No shots were fired, fortunately."
Cooper said he told "my guys yesterday that we don't live in the same society we did 15 to 20 years ago. We have to err on the side of caution; every call is not like it used to be.
The gun, a Jimenez 9mm, reportedly had an empty magazine.
"He was brandishing it like it was loaded, but it was not loaded," Chief Deputy Tommy Horton said.
Spikes, who is being held in the Stoddard County Jail on $125,000 cash only bond, is "being watched," Horton said.