BEDFORD – On Monday, March 29, Marshall Township Volunteer Fire Department requested Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Thomas Porter to respond to 39 North Helton Road because a man was at the scene interfering with firefighters.
Firefighters from multiple departments were in the middle of battling a wildland fire.
When Deputy Porter arrived at 5:53 p.m., the male’s father had taken him by UTV back to a residence on Helton Road.
The male was in a tree stand and refused to cooperate with firefighters. He was asked multiple times to get out of the tree and leave the area.
Two firefighters removed 23-year-old Braden McCormack from the tree stand and placed him on the ground to detain him.
Firefighters believed McCormack was intoxicated, and firefighters could not account for his safety.
McCormack was handcuffed and walked back to a police vehicle. Once in the police vehicle, the officer obtained a statement from firefighters. While doing that, the police vehicle’s siren began sounding. McCormack had slipped out his handcuffs from behind him to in front and pushed his way into the driver’s seat of the police vehicle. Officers removed McCormack from the front seat and returned him to the back seat. They then transported him to jail on charges of escape, obstructing firefighters performing their duties, and refusing to leave an incident area.
