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Cantonment Man Takes Deputy’s Gun During Struggle
October 9, 2014
A Cantonment man is behind bars after he allegedly took a deputy’s weapon during a struggle that followed a traffic stop.
An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigator made a traffic stop for an equipment violation. As he approached the vehicle, 35-year old David Lee Mason, Jr. fled, and a brief foot pursuit followed.
Mason tripped and fell down an embankment after which time as struggle took place between Mason and the investigator. During the struggle, Mason was able to gain control of the investigator’s firearm, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
As the investigator and Mason fought over the firearm, the investigator shoved the firearm into the mud to prevent Mason from using it against him. The investigator managed to regain control of the firearm, which was no longer functional.
A short time later, backup arrived and took Mason into custody. A large amount of cocaine and crystal meth and a small amount of marijuana were located in Mason’s vehicle along with a firearm and more than $1,100 in cash, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Mason and the investigator were both treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.
Mason was booked into the Escambia County Jail on charges of aggravated assault on a specified person (LEO), displaying a weapon in the commission of a felony, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, resisting an officer with violence, obstruction of a law enforcement officer (deprive of communications), possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, trafficking in methamphetamine and violation of probation. He was being held with no bond due to the probation violation and a $156,000 total bond for all other charges. He also received a verbal warning for the equipment violation.
Comments
29 Responses to “Cantonment Man Takes Deputy’s Gun During Struggle”
I’m what may appear to be an awful person on paper, but that is not the fact. After a 20yr battle w/drugs. Plenty of arrest,prison,my children placed in foster homes. And all I could do was pray God help me stop. NOTHInG else had worked. Finally because of prayers. . I was put in the path of a drug councilor that was me 20 yrs earlier. Someone helped her deal with her real problem, because addiction is a symptom. Now I’ve been clean for 7yrs. Fraught for my kids back, and won. I’ve been on my job for 7yrs. & starting school next start. So why you all have your opinion, find a addict that got the help they really needs. And you will find a no longer active in addiction addict. If you want to help then help. To legalize marijuana isn’t saying sell drugs, it’s a less addictive altinart way for ppl to maintain some illness’ read up on that too!
Perdidofisherman – thank you for a realistic, common sense post. If drugs were legalized and taxed, the revenue generated would be tremendous. The burden on law enforcement would be lifted. Revenue channeled into prisons, etc could be used for counseling and/or rehab. Time to do away with Puritan archaic thinking. Time to be proactive not reactive.
what this gentleman had in his car would be illegal in Portugal. Thus proving nothing. Because one thing does not work does not mean something else WILL work.
Tammy,
Prove they come out worse. Some don’t come out at all. If they are damaged, prove they weren’t damaged when they broke the law the first few times. Knowingly doing what you KNOW can get you in an all male environment for years to come is not good evidence of an undamaged psyche.
Use reason: Did crime exist when drugs were legal? Yes, it did.
You nearly admit that making it illegal drew many into illegal drug dealing BECAUSE of the illegality and associated money. You just assume they wouldn’t do some other illegal thing if drugs were legalized. Further, there usually IS violence involved in illegal drug trade, but no law requires outlaws to be violent.
Yes, legalizing drugs would drive the current dope dealers out of that business because they couldn’t compete with Walmart, but they would still find laws to break while lusting after easy money.
David for better people
David Huie Green, Take a look at Portugal. You say making things legal won’t work. Surely you can admit that what were doing doesn’t work. Free up cops to prevent and fight crime. Quit throwing our money in the trash. Lets build schools, hospitals, highways, bridges, ect. I promise you sending people to prison because of drugs does not make a better citizen. They come out worse. They come out damaged.
People don’t go into criminal activity because drugs are illegal.
Criminals go into whatever activity brings in easy money, which tends to be criminal because otherwise everybody could do it without fearing arrest.
To be clear, whatever is illegal will attract criminals; making everything legal just won’t work. Consider this gentleman’s past, it was NOT limited to drugs.
David for reality
David and Perdido fisherman are the wisest folks I have met in a long while. I try to explain this to people all the time. I usually get attacked or they think I am crazy. Crazy is do the same thing over and over again at great expense with no improvement. thanks prohibition. thanks for costing us trillions, increasing crime, and imprisoning more people than any other nation in the world. Lets stay the course everyone. Build more Jails! Hire more CO’s! Build more Jails! Hire more CO’s!
@Patriot
Glad to hear you guys in the “Prosecuting Attorney’s” are convinced that this an open and shut case. NOT! There are thousands of cases thrown out each year with this exact scenario. A good defense attorney could beat this case in his or her sleep.
@David
The guy didn’t run because he was high,although I suppose he could’ve been,he ran because he had drugs and a firearm in the vehicle and knew if he was caught he was going to the big house.
@Patriot we both know why an investigator did a traffic stop for a broken tail light(something they don’t routinely do unless they know something is in the car) and it wasn’t because he was racial profiling.
Good job to the leo’s. Glad everybody went home safe
This guy’s got some serious injuries. Look at his head.
David, I agree with you that prohibition is creating more crime. People who do drugs are going to do so whether it’s legal or not. I have lived in countries where you will lose your head if caught with drugs, but that didn’t detere anyone from selling or using those drugs. The black market drives up the price so high that it’s worth it for some people to take a chance. With legalization you will see a reduction in violent crime and non violent crime. Cartels will be forced out of business making it impossible for them to fund thier small armies and less appealling to kill over territory. Over dose deaths will drop dramatically because there will be consistency in the dosage of the drugs. People will not have infected heart valves or any other ailement associated with drug use because the drugs will not be cut with the garbage that street dealers use. Cops will have to do actual police work and focus on real crime, instead of filling prisons with nonviolent drug offenders, who now have a felony conviction that makes gainfull employment nearly impossible. The cops won’t be able to just confiscate peoples property anymore because they had a small amount of weed. That’s why Law Enforcement wants prohibition to stay. With prohibition they get big fat budgets and they don’t want to give it up, they like taking peoples property, it may also help end the militarization of law enforcement if prohibition is done away with.
Drugs were perfectly legal here until the early 1900’s, look up heroin or opium in news papers that are at the Library of Congress online and you will see that the problems we have today did not exist when drugs were legal and readily available, it wasn’t until prohibition and the war on drugs that drug crimes became a problem. As a direct result of prohibition cartels and drug gangs formed lighting a fire storm of murder, robbery, and incarcerating non violent criminals who become violent criminals because they were jailed for harming no one, because they chose to use a drug to feel better, no different than people taking prozac, xanax and other addictive drugs put out there by the drug companies who also want to keep prohibition alive so they make maximum profits. If you think these mood enhancers put out by big pharma are not addictive than you need to ask someone who has been on them for a year what happens when they run out for a few days. Prohibition is all about the money and nothing else. Our goverment and certain people want to control what others put into thier bodies, they are even now telling people what they can or cannot do in thier bed room, next they will want us all in camps so they can have total control over us.
So another CONVICTED FELON DOING THE SAME OLD THING! Why is he even a free man in the first place? It’s fortunate the officer wasn’t hurt and unfortunate the felon wasn’t shot.
Dave,posted if we didn’t have prohibition,why drugs are illegal.makes you do stupid things,like run from Leo because you are a felon in possession of a fire arm.while on probation.wish Leo was able to take this thug out of the system
Dave,posted if we didn’t have prohibition,at 3:45. WOW DAVR,you must be as high as a kite.why drugs are illegal.makes you do stupid things,like run from Leo because you are a felon in possession of a fire arm.while on probation.wish Leo was able to take this thug out of the system
I am glad nobody was seriously hurt. Just think, if we did not have prohibition, the man would not have felt the need to run and there would not have been a conflict – and an officer’s life would not have been endangered. It’s not worth our time or tax dollars to try and prevent people from using drugs if they want. Policing drugs creates unnecessary risk and infringes upon the right of people to be sovereign over their own bodies (stupidly so or not).
In response to Sea Lawyer: Your hope is fulfilled, you are wrong.
A. Investigators are Deputy Sheriffs, they can make traffic stops for equipment violations.
B. Equipment violations are probable cause for a traffic stop.
Contrary to your perception, every minority that is arrested is NOT “racially profiled”. Stops are based on probable cause, regardless of the offender’s race. Equipment violations lead to dope, which leads to arrests. That’s the way police work is done.
Do we even know the investigator’s race yet? Don’t be so quick to condemn.
Do Investigators normally make traffic stops for equipment violations? I wouldn’t think this would be part of their “normal duties”.
Guy is going to cry “racial profiling” and will likely walk free if they don’t have something more than “equipment violation” as reasonable cause for the traffic stop.
Hope i’m wrong.
The good guys won this one.
Gee, it looks like he really worked the officers fist over with his face. Some people never learn.
Way to go LEO thank God you are ok and took another thug off the street!
We should praise our Local Law Enforcement Officers every day for they DO Put their life on the line when they walk out the door…
So glad the deputy was not harmed. The dirt bag never needs to see the light of day. If he will do something like this, he will do it again if given the chance.
It appears that in an effort to evade capture that Mr. Mason’s fall down the embankment resulted in some facial injuries.
Looking on the Escambia Clerk of Court website there is reference to persons with similar names and possibly this same individual with a number of offenses.
Wonder if the street value of the alleged drugs was greater than his $156,000 bond?
That was a car full of poison.
Thankfully the LEO had only minor injuries.
Maybe a criminal court and lengthy state prison stay for this shining example.
Gosh I sure which there was a like button for comments. LIKES all around!!
Did you happen to see his face? Dang it buddy! Next time do as the deputy says and watch your head…and your face!
Great job leo’s!
I’m sure this criminal is just shaking over the possibility of getting PROBATION!
“He also received a verbal warning for the equipment violation.”
Glad he’s gonna get that fixed too!
Back in the day he would have been member of “Turban Club”…roadside justice.
Exactly, JV!
He sure had a lot of contraband. With that rap sheet its easy to see he’s a lost cause. And to think, if the officer would have shot him…oh the injustice.
God Bless our Law Enforcement. Now lets increase that inmate count once again!