Around 3:00 a.m. today, Jackson police received a 9-1-1 hang up call at 250 N.
Fairgrounds Street. When the dispatcher called the number back, the person on
the other end reported that she needed police and the dispatcher could hear a
disturbance in the background. Officer Clay Haddix was the responding officer.
A 47-year-old Jackson woman told Haddix that she and her live-in boyfriend, Dell
Anthony Johnson, 47, of Jackson had been arguing. Johnson was gone when
Haddix arrived. She told Haddix that he had strangled her and assaulted her by
striking her with his fist. She also reported that he had taken the cordless
telephone with him. Haddix broadcasted a description of Johnson on police radio
for any officer to arrest him if found.
Around 4:15 a.m., the woman called police a second time and reported that
Johnson was knocking at the door. Again, Haddix was the first responding
officer. Haddix saw a man in the backyard of the house next door at 248 N.
Fairgrounds, who matched Johnson's description. As Haddix approached the
man, he noticed that he had something silver in his hand. The man pointed the
silver item in the direction of Haddix. Believing the item to be a weapon, Haddix
fired one shot at the man, missing him. The man immediately complied with
verbal commands and was arrested. He was identified as Dell Anthony
Johnson. He was not injured. Police recovered a silver cordless telephone from
Johnson.
He will be charged with Simple Domestic Assault on the woman and Assault on
Officer Haddix. He will be arraigned tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. in Jackson
City Court.
The Jackson Police Department is conducting a Shoot Team Investigation, which
is department policy whenever deadly force by a police officer is used or a
weapon is discharged in the commission of duty. He is placed on paid
administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
