By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
GATESVILLE, N.C. — A man with mixed-martial arts training was charged after emergency responders were hit and the leg of the Gates County, N.C., sheriff was broken with a wrestling hold.
Logan Pederson, 21, of Corapeake, N.C., was charged June 2 with three counts of felony assault, in addition to driving under the influence, reckless driving, disorderly conduct, communicating threats and destruction of government property.
Sheriff Ed Webb could be out three months and awaits an MRI to know the extent of the damage.
“He was just plumb nasty,” Webb said from his home Tuesday. “Anything he could do to be hateful, he did it.”
Emergency personnel responded to a wreck on Hazelton Road in Gates County late June 1. When a paramedic attempted to treat Pederson, the driver of the wrecked truck, authorities say, he hit her. He also is accused of striking a firefighter with an elbow to the head.
He also threatened and spit on officers, authorities said.
Later, as Webb led Pederson in handcuffs to be tested for an alcohol test, authorities said, he got the sheriff into a wrestling hold. Webb heard his leg snap, he said. Another officer struck Pederson with a clipboard to get him to release the hold, authorities said.
Copyright 2015 The Virginian-Pilot