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ECSO: Molino Man Points Shotgun At Man, Kids Outside Dollar Store
November 25, 2014
A Molino man is accused of pointing a shotgun at a family, including three children ages 7-12, and threatening to kill them outside the Family Dollar Store in Cantonment.
Forest McCoy Hope, age 65 of Crabtree Church Road, was charged with four felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one felony county of committing a felony with a weapon.
A 12-year old boy was inside the Family Dollar on Highway 29 Sunday night when he told his father that Hope cursed at him. The man, his children and the store clerk went outside the business. A short time later, Hope drove by the front of the store in a SUV, pulled a shotgun out, pointed in the direction of the man and his children and said “I’ll blow your head off!”, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report. Hope then drove off toward the parking lot exit but managed to drive his vehicle into a ditch.
The man his children told deputies that they feared for their lives during the incident. The store clerk told deputies that she also feared for her safety, but she did not want to press additional charges because it is the holiday season.
When deputies arrived, they found the SUV in the ditch with Hope in the driver’s seat. The deputies reported that Hope had a shotgun between the center console and passenger seat.
Hope told deputies that he did not argue with anyone outside the store, but he did point his walking cane in their direction. Hope had no response when deputies told him that the store clerk had accurately described the shotgun in his vehicle, the report states. During he investigation, Hope became irritated and poked a deputy in the chest, telling him “you better do your job”, the arrest report states.
Hope was taken into custody at the scene. He was released from the Escambia County Jail Monday afternoon on a $35,000 bond.
Pictured top: Deputies conduct an investigation Sunday night in the parking lot of the Family Dollar Store on Highway 29 in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Comments
28 Responses to “ECSO: Molino Man Points Shotgun At Man, Kids Outside Dollar Store”
“Special Police Unit”? I’ve been a cop for 16 years and I’ve never heard of that. When someone is arrested their blood sugar is checked at the jail if they have diabetes or display signs of medical conditions everyone wants to say caused this. Since the jail didn’t refuse to take him that means his blood sugar was fine. He could have been drunk or just having a bad day but this wasn’t a medical issue.
Lebowski, oh how you are so wrong, you sound as much like a nut case as the man in the story, if you have diabetes, it’s your responsibility to keep it under control, stay away from as much sugar & avoid all alcohol & other substances, diabetes isn’t an excuse. You have some serious issues my friend, please get yourself checked out. To the others who are making excuses, we don’t need people like this, we need people to help them, not make excuses, to the health care worker, I believe it’s time to change your profession, if he is that far gone, he should get rid of his guns, & no it’s not his right to threaten anybody.
blood sugar has nothing to do with stupidness and the disregard for other’s lives.
Absolutely! This all could have been prevented if only the family had suggested he stop for a moment and check his blood sugar. If it were low, the clerk could have thrown him a Twinkie. Had it been high though, well, that’s a different situation. He would have had every right to brandish a firearm at anyone he well pleased. I’m surprised he didn’t envoke his god given right public indecency right then and there. If there is one thing that decades of poor diet and high fructose corn syrup have taught me, its that one cannot be held accountable for his or her actions when under the influence of diabetes.
Regardless of what kind of person he is behind closed doors.. His conduct in the public view says something different. He used profanity at some children, pointed a shotgun at them saying, ” I will blow your head off,” drove into a ditch, and also poked an officer of the law in the chest saying, ” you better do your job. ”
If there is something wrong with this gentleman, then his caretaker should’ve been there with him. Nowhere in this article says that this man was hallucinating. Also he conducted these actions around the general public who doesn’t know his condition. Even the police would have a hard time determining that as well. Excuses for someone’s actions does not fix the problem at hand.
I worked with Forest for many years. He was a really good guy and always happy. Doesn’t even seem possible for him to do such. There are definitely some underlying issues somewhere unless he has really changed for the worse. I hope he gets the help he needs whatever that may be. Very unfortunate for the children involved. I hope they receive help as well to overcome any emotional issues this may have caused them. Prayers for all involved.
No permits for firearms in Fl. Only for concealed carry ..
I have known this man for 30 years.. He is a kind man that will help anyone including me. They should have called (Special Police Unit) out at once. They are trained to recognize the Behavior of someone with Sugar Imbalance, Mental Illness,etc.. They could have gotten him the Medical Help he needed. Not everyone that carries a gun is violent!!!!! Some carry guns JUST to PROTECT THEMSELVES!!
If you don’t know whats going on keep your comments to your self.. This could have been one of your family or friends. I PRAY FOR YOU MY FRIEND!!!!
What if he had pulled the trigger? Would you still feel sorry for him and not have pressed charges? He’d of had hollow points flying at him had he pointed a gun at me and my boys.
To “MyOpinion” Were you directly involved in this incident? If you weren’t directly involved then how do you know that Mr. Hope’s blood sugar drop low?
I enjoy this local website for all of the arm chair quarterbacks that “KNOW” this or that happened based on the few details of whatever article they were reading.
Sorry had to throw my two cents in to this. But if you weren’t directly involved then why don’t you keep the ill informed opinions to yourself instead of trying to get the public to believe that you have some special insiders knowledge. You might have gained a little more respect if you had given your name instead of hiding behind the Internet.
I have several family members with blood sugar problems, they have never threatened/acted crazy as this man did, why he was actually looking for trouble, he’s lucky no one shot him & he doesn’t need someone making excuses for him, what if he actually would have harmed them? His problems doesn’t justify a tragedy if there had been one.
There is no mention of confirming there was a walking cane in the truck or not.
So if there was, it is possible he thought he was pointing his walking cane.
Nobody requires “a permit” for a shotgun. Inside nor outside of your vehicle.
Perhaps this incident is a wake up call for him and his family to swallow some pride and get his medical issues resolved.
In defense of Molino Girl. Yes, it is true that blood sugar being out of the norm will cause an otherwise gentle human being to be totally irrational and out of character. I used to work in a health system and we had a young man that was a nice person, but when his sugar got out of whack he became very combative and was hard to handle.
I know this can and did happen.
Jcellops,
In Florida, permits are not required for owning a firearm.
I was in Grocery Advantage while this was going on obviously, because all I saw was a running vehicle in the ditch with an officer going over it with a fine tooth comb from passenger side, it almost flipped in the ditch…….
There are no permits in Florida for the ownership of long guns or handguns. There are forms to fill out, mandatory waiting period for handguns with background check and a background check for concealed carry license if you want one. Mental health issues may or may not be part of any of these purchase types, by State Law. Baker acting this individual would not have given him the help he needs as they only hold him until they feel he was “sane”, which is usually after two weeks of drugs to calm him down. Concerned family or friends need to convince him to submit to getting checked out at the hospital. Hopefully the court will order it as part of his sentencing.
Based on the details of this story A) drove his vehicle into a ditch B) witnessed blizzare behavior C) hallucinating – thought his shotgun was a walking stick .. It seems as though a ball was dropped if he wasn’t first transported to the ER to have his blood drawn- prior to being allowed to bond out… Could have explained a lot…. No mention if he had a permit for his firearm.. Interesting.
Seriously… Molino girl.. his blood sugar. Hell he is lucky he still has blood to check. What Moran judge allowed him out of jail… I would say he is a threat to society.
We have know Forest and his family for years. Forest is a good and gentle man. He has a lot of health issues, one being sugar problems. I am sure IF they would have Baker Act him with a
medical team it would have been a big help for him and others to determine his problems at this time. I agree he needs help with his health. Please refrain from harsh feelings against him. Investigation into this event should have been looked at from a medical point and booked him into a hospital. Anytime there is a questionable situation like this jail is not the answer. Praying for everyone who was involved.
Scary why was nothing done these poor children why does no one care about the fear they have. And really the Holiday season for not wanting to press charges is just lame.
I wonder if they checked his sugar….. sounds like a high blood sugar situation or alcohol.
Why wasn’t this man Baker Acted?
He seems to be a prime candidate for being held for observation.
Actually he seems to be just plain nuts and a danger to others and himself.
If he has family they need to look into this. Assuming they are not scared to death of him too.
Ticking time bomb…Scary!
I was sitting in the parking lot seen and heard it all.The man was helling and cussing at the family.The kids were scared to death!! Way to close to home unreal what some people will do these days!!
My guess is he was under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or a high blood sugar.
This doesn’t surprise me in the least bit, this man has some serious mental issues along with a few other issues of course. I really hope and pray that he gets some help before something like this turns deadly. Praying for him and his family during these difficult times.
Not sure why this man was released. It is evident, from the information given in this report, that he has some sort of problem. Do I need to be careful when I leave my home now for fear that he is still looking for trouble?
Molino has always been well known for it’s extraordinary characters.