A recent news story, which got very little national attention, merits our attention in this space — the incident provides reminders about officer safety, vigilance, and the speed with which events can unfold.
During a traffic stop in Lewiston (Idaho), Officer Tom Woods was faced with a sudden ambush attack by a man armed with a pair of brass knuckles and a replica that appeared to be a real gun — Woods not only survived, he prevailed.
Woods had initiated the stop because the offender vehicle didn’t have any license plates, and Woods suspected that it belonged to a man known to have outstanding warrants for “failing to appear in court for cases involving malicious injury to property and driving without privileges,” according to KLEW-TV.
The driver of the car — who is also the mother of the assailant — released the trunk latch, and Woods sprang to action to defend himself. Woods quickly closed the distance and wrestled 22-year-old Jesse Harrell to the ground. Harrell was taken into custody without shots being fired.
The number one takeaway here is that things can go very sideways very quickly. This is not news — every cop knows this. We have seen all too often that action beats reaction, and in this case reaction was on the winning side.
Officers can make a conscious effort to slow things down and create distance between the known subject and themselves, but in cases like this one in Idaho, a second subject can trash those tactics in a split second. Woods turned the tables despite the surprise appearance of the armed subject.
The fact that Woods won the encounter — despite being confronted with a sudden ambush attack by an armed and determined adversary — highlights the fact that officers have better training and capabilities in defensive tactics than most resistive subjects. It also highlights the importance of the will to win. This was a “Not Today” moment for Woods, and he refused to lose the encounter.
As we have seen in other attempts at ambush — such as when an ISIS-inspired assailant shot Philadelphia Officer Jesse Hartnett while stopped in his squad — the copper can still fight back and win. Hartnett was able to get out of his vehicle, chase the suspect and return fire, wounding his attacker.
Like Hartnett, Woods did what Police1 Columnist Richard Fairburn has been preaching for years — he attacked the ambush. Slamming that trunk hood down on the subject surely disoriented him and gave the advantage in the fight back to the good guy. Remember this maxim commonly attributed to John Steinbeck: “If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.”
As Fairburn wrote back in July, “Make yourselves alert, difficult targets. Then respond with a level of coordinated, overwhelming aggression they are not prepared to resist.”
Woods also showed exceptional instincts in this video. After having to send the driver back to her vehicle — she had immediately gotten out of the car to confront Woods in his squad — the officer had an immediate sense that something was just not right. Following that gut feeling, he called for backup.
That’s when the woman popped the trunk, and Woods immediately sprang into action, slamming the door back on the assailant, and taking control of his body with a top-quality tackle worthy of an NFL highlight reel. Woods dominated that confrontation with speed, surprise, and violence of action, and as a consequence, he won.
Officers are taught from the first weeks of the academy to place their hand on the trunk of the stopped vehicle to feel for unseen movement inside. Woods almost certainly did this, sensing nothing. But as soon as he saw that trunk pop open, he moved decisively toward victory.
Police Chief Chris Ankeny told KLEW-TV that Woods “could have used deadly force,” and Ankeny is absolutely right. Woods would have been absolutely justified in shooting Harrell, but he didn’t — only Woods knows why.
This could have ended very differently had he not quickly neutralized the threat and taken the assailant into custody.
Well done, Officer Woods!
