Athens man tasered, arrested on Hwy. 29 in Danielsville

Demetrius Lamar Ransom, 38, of 116 Fernwood Court, was charged with one count each of obstruction of officers and public drunkenness after Chief Deputy Major Shawn Burns apprehended him using his taser during a short foot chase from the Golden Pantry.

According to the incident report, Deputy Josh Smith was at the complex for courthouse security when a screener advised him that a black male who had passed through security screening had a strong odor of alcohol. Smith approached the man, who identified himself as Ransom and Smith also noted a strong alcohol odor. Smith asked Ransom to step outside and take a handheld breath test. Once outside, Ransom told the deputy that he was “not drunk today,” but had gotten drunk late the night before. He gave an insufficient sample for the breath test and deputy Smith advised him that he was being arrested for public drunkenness. At that point, Ransom allegedly became belligerent, taking a swing at the deputy before trying to run away. Deputy Smith issued verbal commands for him to stop, and then deployed his taser, which did not penetrate his skin because of a thick jacket. Ransom continued to run toward the Golden Pantry with Smith in pursuit on foot and calling 911 for back up.

When they reached the Golden Pantry, Smith was joined by Major Shawn Burns, Danielsville police chief Rodney Christian and Capt. Rcx Matthews.

Major Burns joined the foot chase and gave several verbal commands for Ransom to stop before deploying his taser, which brought the chase to an end.

EMS was called to the scene and gave clearance for Ransom to be booked into the Madison County Jail. Ransom received a laceration to his lip area when he fell after being tasered, according to the report.
Madison County 911 advised officers on scene that Ransom also had two active felony warrants concerning fleeing officers and a drug charge.