By Sabian Warren and Romando Dixson
Asheville Citizen-Times
CANTON, N.C. — The mother of a 17-year-old believes her hearing- impaired son could have been apprehended after a high-speed chase without being shot multiple times by a Buncombe County sheriff’s deputy.
Based on the current information, Sheriff Van Duncan said his officers “acted appropriately” when Jacob Cody Plemmons rammed his truck into a patrol car early Monday, pinning two deputies inside. A third deputy fired “multiple times,” Duncan said, when Plemmons continued attempts to drive the back of his truck into the car.
Sandi Ross, Plemmons’ mother, said her son suffered five gunshot wounds — two in the chest below the collarbone, one in the abdomen, leg and elbow. Plemmons, of Blue Ridge, Ga., is in stable condition at the Mission Hospital ICU. Ross said he had surgery to remove part of his small intestine, and doctors inserted a rod into his left leg.
“The boy should not have been shot five times,” Ross said. “It’s on his driver’s license that he’s deaf. He was holding his hands in the air, telling them not to shoot. Then they yanked him out of the truck and threw him on the ground. I just don’t see no justice.” Duncan said deputies had struggled to communicate with Plemmons in a stop minutes earlier. During the second stop, the teen posed an imminent threat to the officers inside while trying to accelerate after the collision, Duncan said. The sheriff said he did not know how many shots were fired and there was no indication the teen had a weapon.
The sheriff declined to name the officer, who has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a State Bureau of Investigation probe of the shooting. Duncan said the officer is a 15- year veteran of the department. The shooting happened about 3:10 a.m. on U.S. 19-23 in eastern Haywood County.
Officers first stopped Plemmons because a temporary tag on his Chevy Silverado was unreadable and a taillight wasn’t working, Duncan said.
Officers communicated with Plemmons by writing notes after finding he was speech- and hearingimpaired, the sheriff said. Deputies released him with a warning, but minutes later they spotted the same vehicle speeding.
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