By Stephanie Tshappat
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
MILTON-FREEWATER, Ore. — When former police officer Stephen W. Sutton arrived at the local Les Schwab Tire Center on Nov. 3 to pick up a battery he’d left to be tested, the last thing he expected he’d do was disarm an angry man carrying multiple weapons.
Sutton was the unnamed citizen who, while waiting for police to arrive, disarmed and detained Walter Glen Ferguson, 52, whose last known address was in Walla Walla. Ferguson reportedly became so irate about his tires not being changed immediately that, police say, he threatened to kill another customer and brandished a handgun.
“Mr. Sutton’s response was both valorous and understated. He took level headed, prudent action that prevented a very bad situation from becoming worse,” said Milton-Freewater Police Chief Doug Boedigheimer.
A Umatilla County grand jury indicted Ferguson on one count of felon in possession of a weapon and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, all felonies, and two counts of menacing and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, all misdemeanors.
Ferguson, who was released after posting bond, pleaded not guilty Nov. 6 and a pretrial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18.
In an interview, Sutton said he automatically reverted to his police training and didn’t think about more than stopping the threat Ferguson posed.
“I’m not a vigilante, I don’t go out looking for (this kind of) stuff,” said Sutton, whose law enforcement career included 13 years with the Milton-Freewater Police Department. “But I’m not the one to stand by and let it happen either.”
Sutton was waiting in line to pick up his battery that Monday when he saw a man, later identified as Ferguson, just inside the door talking to another customer. Sutton said Ferguson kept trying to drape his coat over the man, telling him it was cold outside.
The customer, a Hispanic man who didn’t speak English, was unable to understand Ferguson and kept trying to shake the coat off.
"(Ferguson) was intoxicated,” Sutton said. “I immediately picked up on that.”
When the customer tried to walk away, Sutton said, Ferguson said to the customer: “I’ll kill you where you stand if you walk away.”
"(Ferguson) had his back to me at this point,” Sutton said, “so I couldn’t see the gun. I didn’t know he was armed.”
Shortly afterward, Sutton said he was at the counter and could tell that receptionist Kim Garcia was shaken. She motioned Sutton to follow her out to the service bay, where she told him Ferguson had a gun. He immediately advised her to call police.
When he and Garcia went back inside the store, Sutton said, Ferguson was still harassing people and customers were starting to leave because of his threatening behavior.
Ferguson was trying to speak to an employee who was assisting another customer. The employee told Ferguson work had yet to start on his vehicle, which made Ferguson more irate and forced the employee to take his customer to the service bay to talk.
When Ferguson started walking toward the counter, Sutton said he could finally see the gun, a Kimber .45-caliber, sticking out of Ferguson’s waistband.
That’s when Sutton took action.
“Your gun’s showing,” he told Ferguson.
Sutton took the weapon out of Ferguson’s waistband, removed the magazine clip and put both on the ground.
“I didn’t do anything I don’t think anyone else wouldn’t do, because I don’t like it when people are scared or terrorized,” Sutton said. “I guess that’s why I initially became a police officer in the first place.”
Sutton said he lightly pushed Ferguson against the counter, making Ferguson off balance and distracting him. He added that Ferguson immediately put his arms out to the side and asked why Sutton was arresting him.
“I never told him I was a police officer, or that he was under arrest, but he may have recognized me from my prior years on the force,” Sutton said. “The fact is, I was prepared ... What I did was standard procedure for taking down an armed subject.”
Sutton said Ferguson wasn’t aggressive and was mostly compliant while he had him detained, except trying to get up off the counter a few times.
Ferguson told Sutton he had a second gun, a Colt .380, in his boot.
“Then don’t reach for it,” Sutton responded.
It was about that time that Boedigheimer and Milton-Freewater Police Sgt. Scott Clayton arrived. Sutton told them about the gun in Ferguson’s boot; they patted him down and found it as well as a knife. Once they took custody of Ferguson, Sutton said he cleared both handguns, which were ready to fire.
“He well could have saved lives that day,” Boedigheimer said. “Mr. Sutton behaved calmly, with the safety of others in mind.”
After Boedigheimer and Clayton left with Ferguson in custody, Sutton, who works as sporting goods department lead at Milton-Freewater’s Ranch and Home store, just continued to go about his day.
“I walked out to my car and thought, ‘Wait, I came here for something!’” he said with a chuckle. “Then I went back into the store and got my battery.”
Sutton doesn’t consider himself a hero; just someone who did what needed to be done to protect others around him.
“You know, I did this in uniform for years, and no one batted an eye,” he said. “Badge and a uniform, no one thinks twice about it. I take a guy down when I’m wearing sweatpants and it blows up social media.”
Copyright 2014 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin