BETHANY, W. Va. (WTHR) – A West Virginia sheriff's deputy is going viral for her raw and honest Facebook post following a fight with a suspect early Friday morning.
K9 deputy Kristen Richmond recounted details about a call she responded to at Bethany College.
According to the sheriff's office, deputies responded to a report of a man throwing things out of a third floor dorm window. That man, later identified as 21-year-old Brandon Lamar Jackson of Georgia, was also reported to be bleeding.
Deputies made contact with Jackson who appeared to be on drugs and hallucinating.
After Jackson was told he was under arrest, he began fighting with Deputy Richmond.
Deputy Richmond writes that despite deploying her K9 partner, who bit Jackson several times, the man would not stop fighting. Eventually backup arrived after about a five minute fight with the suspect, and they were able to take the man into custody. One of those deputies was also bit on the hand by Jackson.
"The following saying comes to mind: Sometimes I had a bad day means that I almost didn’t make it home," Richmond wrote in her post Friday evening. She gives thanks for her partners who helped her during the fight, and says her training made it so she didn't "freak out" and kept a level head during the altercation, an altercation that she says, could have ended very differently.
"My guys found me and my K9 engaged. If it wasn’t for them intervening when they did the outcome probably would have been much worse. I am so thankful for them! They are literally the best partners I could ask for."
She says she made the post for three reasons: to remind those in law enforcement to train hard, bond with their partners and to remind those who are not in uniform what officers and deputies go through on a daily basis.
Richmond was treated at the hospital for a broken nose along with other bumps and bruises from the fight. Jackson was taken to the hospital due to his behavior and injuries.
The incident remains under investigation and charges are pending.
Since it was posted Friday night, the post has been shared more than 80,000 times and has 31,000 comments.