Gleason man arrested for assaulting a first responder
Anthony Paschall
Story by Senior Investigative Reporter Shannon Taylor
On Oct. 28 around 8:40 p.m., Patrolman Joseph Bates with the Gleason Police Department, received a call regarding an intoxicated male.
When Bates arrived at the residence in Gleason, he spoke with the complainant, Wendy Paschall, who told Bates that her son, 34-year-old Anthony Paschall, was highly intoxicated and had gotten somewhat physical with her. The mother further stated that she was scared of her son and wanted him to leave for the evening.
Bates found Paschall walking behind the Johnson Storage Buildings and approached him, trying to reason with him and obtain his side of the story. Bates immediately noticed the smell of alcohol on Paschall as well as noticing that he had bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech.
Paschall then became hostile towards Bates, resisting verbal commands to stop and halt. When Paschall and Bates got back to the residence, Paschall became more hostile, and Bates instructed him to put his arms behind his back and informed him that he was under arrest for public intoxication.
Paschall then proceeded to make verbal threats to harm Bates, and it was at this point when Bates drew his taser and continued to give verbal commands to Paschall. Bates then fired his taser, making contact with Paschall on his upper chest and abdomen area.
Paschall then charged at Bates and struck him on the back of the head and they both fell to the ground. Bates was able to regain his footing and Paschall stopped resisting and was put into custody.
EMS and deputies arrived on the scene for support. Paschall did not have any injuries and was transported to the Weakley County Jail. Paschall was charged with public intoxication, assault against a first responder, resisting stop/frisk/halt arrest and disorderly conduct.
It seems to me an investigative reporter would get the whole story before publishing. You just published a piece on that very thing. Also I would think talking to the parties involved and getting all the facts would be important as well. I never said my son was physical with me. I said I was afraid it would come to that so I called the police for the safety of us both. There’s more to this story. There’s more than a drunk man here in this story. There was an intoxicated man with a mental illness not on all his meds and drinking. I’m not making excuses. What he did was wrong to me and to the police officer. I’m just saying that if you write a story you should get all the facts and talk to all the ppl involved. I thought that was investigative reporting.