By Billy Hobbs
The Union-Recorder
BALDWIN COUNTY, Ga. — A 32-year-old man who claimed someone was trying to kill him, tried to jump out of the back of an ambulance in Baldwin County last Friday morning, local authorities say.
It was later learned that the man was wanted on an outstanding criminal charge by police in Monroe.
The man was identified as Dustin Shane Cowart, of the 800 block of Cobblestone Road, Douglas, Georgia, according to an incident report filed by Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jerome Roberts.
Although Cowart was eventually taken to the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center where he was being held for Monroe police, no charges were filed against him, locally.
Roberts said he responded to a 911 call about a suspicious man.
The deputy said a dispatcher informed him that the man, who was eventually identified as Cowart, had indicated he thought someone was trying to kill him.
Roberts said when he got to the area, he spotted Cowart standing near a residence on the 600 block of Georgia Route 24 shortly before 11 a.m.
The deputy said Cowart told him that he had been riding in a vehicle to Sparta with a man he had only known for a couple of months. The pair were supposedly scheduled to do some work there.
Cowart said when he no longer thought they were headed to Sparta, he decided to jump out of the vehicle in neighboring Hancock County and began walking because he felt that the man was taking him somewhere to kill him.
Roberts said Cowart asked him to call an ambulance because he was experiencing shortness of breath. While waiting on ambulance personnel with Grady Emergency Medical Services to arrive, Cowart was described by the deputy as acting “extremely nervous and fidgety.”
Roberts said Cowart was having difficulty sitting still because he thought someone was trying to kill him.
“Cowart asked several times to go across the highway to the wood line, so he could use the bathroom,” Roberts said in his report. “Due to Cowart’s behavior, I didn’t want him to cross the highway and get out of sight.”
The deputy said he later provided a dispatcher with Cowart’s name and his date of birth. A short time later, the deputy received word back that Coward was possibly wanted by Monroe police on an outstanding warrant. At the time, dispatch was attempting to confirm such information.
While awaiting word from the dispatcher, Roberts said he attempted to handcuff Cowart.
The deputy said he managed to cuff one of Cowart’s hands, but that he then began to resist.
It led to a brief struggle between the deputy and Cowart.
Eventually, Roberts was able to get Cowart into handcuffs.
Cowart was later turned over to personnel with the ambulance service.
Roberts said a short time after the ambulance left the scene that he received another call in the area.
Paramedic Steve Chapple called for assistance from the sheriff’s office.
Roberts said Cowart was trying to jump out of the ambulance.
“Once I arrived on the scene with the ambulance, I observed Cowart being extremely aggressive, trying to get out of the ambulance,” Roberts said in his report.
At that point, Roberts said he placed Cowart under arrest on the warrant.
Roberts said Chapple told him that Cowart had tried to get out of the seatbelt and had become “extremely aggressive.”
The deputy said Chapple told him that he managed to hold onto Cowart until he received his assistance and the situation ended.
Roberts said he took Cowart to the county jail without incident.
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©2019 The Union-Recorder (Milledgeville, Ga.)