Attempted Bank Robbery
Attempted robbery happened November 2nd at Union Credit One. Suspect shot twice by an officer, suspect has no life-threatening injuries. Suspect charged with multiple different charges ranging from unlawful use of a firearm to possession of Cannabis.
The suspect David C. Jefferson age 37 was loitering in the parking lot which caused Elliot Mess who was working undercover to approach him. This altercation happened at 11:45am at Union Credit One on 1416 Palm Grove Drive.
Officer Mess was observing Jefferson when Jefferson started walking towards the building, then Mess began approaching the suspect saying “Excuse me….”. From there the suspect turned around quickly with a flower delivery box in his hand, in the box was a sawed-off shotgun which the suspect then pointed at the officer.
Mess then reached for his service weapon, drawing it from his shoulder holster. At this time Jefferson was also trying to load a shotgun shell into the gun then began raising the gun to Mess’s direction. Mess then fired two shots at Jefferson, one hitting him in the left shoulder and the other one hitting in his right thigh. Mess then handcuffed the suspect and called Tamoon PD dispatch who then contacted Chucktown PD for assistance. Mess than read Jefferson his rights.
Chucktown officers arrived to the scene and a few minutes late Chucktown EMT arrived also. EMTs treated and transported Jefferson to Mercy Hosptial with police escort. After the EMTs left they then began to recover items from the scene. Things the recovered were the suspects shotgun along with his wallet and 11995 Chevy Caprice which is registered to the suspect, also 3.02 oz of Cannabis was found on Jefferson. Along with the suspects things recovered so were three 9mm shell casing, apparently fired from Mess’s firearm.
There is an Arby’s about 60 feet from the bank where the altercation happened. Witness Jeff Naggler said he saw the bank incident happen while he was eating his lunch inside of Arby’s. There were two other people inside having lunch also and they said they did not hear or see anything.
The address Jefferson gave for the police report is where he no longer lives, his ex-wife now lives there. We talked to her on the phone and she said she has not heard from Jefferson in months. She also informed us that about five or six years ago he served a few years for assault.
Mess also does not have such a clean record, 15 months ago he was suspended without pay for seven days. The reason for his suspension “inappropriate discharge of his firearm while on duty.” Mess apparently fired two shots at a fleeing burglary suspect in Tamoon but did not think about the civilians what were in the vicinity. No civilians were injured when this happened.
Jefferson will be charged with Unlawful use of a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a police officer, attempted murder, operating a motor vehicle with expired license tags and possession of (2.5-5.0oz) of Cannabis.
Kayla Covert 