MITCHELL – A Mitchell man was arrested early Friday, June 9 after Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of a suspicious person at Persimmon Park Apartments on Wade Street.
The caller reported a male in blue jeans with no shirt was at the apartment building banging on doors and attempting to break a window.
Deputies and Oolitic Town Marshall James Harrington responded.
En route, officers received information the man was now walking south toward Carter Avenue and the caller said she thought the male had broken her window and entered her apartment. She had locked herself in the bathroom.
Officers patrolled the area searching for the man but could not find 41-year-old Ryan Tuddy.
Police later arrived at 504 West Oak Street in an attempt to locate Tuddy. A woman answered the door and told police Tuddy had left about 45 minutes ago. She told police Tuddy had been slamming the door and causing her furnace to fall which caused a gas leak. She told police Tuddy was in possession of a sawed-off shotgun and had pointed it at her before he left.
Officers then went to 205 South 5th Street. A couple told police Tuddy had been there earlier in the day.
Police then searched the common area of the apartment complex and Tuddy showed up on the front porch and was detained. He denied having a shotgun. He then refused to answer the officers’ questions.
The couple stated that Tuddy was in their apartment when they arrived. Tuddy had placed the shotgun in the corner of the apartment and then left. Police seized the Hawk model 981 shotgun that had a homemade handle. The gun was loaded with three 12-gauge Federal shotgun shells.
Tuddy was arrested on charges of criminal mischief with a deadly weapon, intimidation with a deadly weapon, and pointing a loaded firearm.
Afterward, police spoke to the female victim located at West Oak Street but she told police she “couldn’t talk to them because she was involved in a gang and that if she gave police any more information she would be killed”.
