OPINION|
Paul and Janice Coltharp heard sirens, a lot of them, and peeked outside the window of their Blaine Street home of 40 years and saw a small army of police officers with weapons drawn.
“When we stepped out on the porch, I mean, law enforcement vehicles were coming from every direction,” Paul Coltharp, pastor of a small church, tells me. “All of them were getting out and getting their long guns. They told us to get back in the house.”
The Coltharps, both 86 years old, did just that on Monday afternoon, June 17.
Almost 100 law enforcement officers — mostly Greene County sheriff's deputies and Springfield police — were out on the street. Their focus was on the man inside the house 1422 E. Blaine. Traffic was blocked off.
It started with deputies trying to arrest Theodore Arnold Davis Jr., 42, a man who spent eight years in prison for robbery and drug convictions and was discharged from parole in May 2022, according to Missouri court records.
Davis, according to Greene County property records, owns the home at 1422 E. Blaine. Two signs are by the front door:
“Go Away. Go On, Git.”
“Private Property, No Trespassing.”
Deputy who was shot released from hospital
Deputies showed up to arrest Davis at about 3:50 p.m.
According to Deputy Derek James, spokesman for the Greene County Sheriff's office, at some point Davis fired a rifle from inside the home and the bullet struck a deputy, but fortunately it hit protective material called a rifle plate. The plate goes in a vest worn by deputies.
James tells me the deputy is recovering, but would not provide his name. The deputy was treated and released from a Springfield hospital Monday night, June 17.
Paul Coltharp never heard gunshots. Others who live on the street tell me they heard a couple of shots, followed by a short delay — one person told me it was about three minutes — followed by a burst of more gunshots.
James declined to reveal whether police officers and deputies exchanged fire with Davis.
Paul Coltharp did hear someone with a bullhorn try to convince Davis to surrender:
“‘Lay down your weapon,'” Coltharp recalled. “‘Come out with your hands up and walk slowly.' And they kept repeating that. Eventually he did come out.”
‘Not the best neighborhood, but I'm not scared'
Beverly Thatcher has lived in her home on the 1400 block of East Blaine Street since 1984.
“I was here,” she tells me. “I heard the two shots. I thought something had fell — something quite heavy. So I didn't get up to bother about it. And then 911 called me and told me that an officer was going to escort me out. ... They took me down to the corner.”
No, she says, she was not scared.
“It's not the best neighborhood, but I'm not scared here. My windows are open during the night. A couple years ago in the duplex down there a lady was shot in the front yard. Yes, shot and killed. And there's been a couple of accidents at the intersection down there because people don't know when to stop when not to stop. And a couple of houses have been raided for drugs.”
On June 12, Davis was charged with drug trafficking, delivering a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance. All are felonies. He also was charged with misdemeanor DWI.
On June 14, a Greene County judge issued a warrant for Davis' arrest.
Defendant allegedly drove through fence and onto MSU soccer field Sept. 30
The charges, according to court documents, accuse Davis of driving a car through a fence at a Missouri State University and onto a soccer field on Sept. 30.
Davis allegedly was driving on the field.
Police officers say they discovered 102 pills in the vehicle that contained cocaine and fentanyl. According to court records, Davis' blood alcohol content was 0.245%, which is three times the legal limit of 0.08% to drive a vehicle in Missouri.
Karley Ward, who lives on the block, says “a few rounds were fired and about three minutes passed, and then it was much more rapid fire.”
Ward wanted to leave her home, but an officer told her she needed to stay put.
Says neighbor Edward Tucker, who has lived on the block about 15 years:
“I heard four gun shots to begin. Then quite a few gun shots.”
Were you scared?
“In the heat of the moment I was. But now? Not really.”
Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott said via a press release:
“The response from deputies and Springfield police resulted in close to one hundred law enforcement officers coming together to resolve the situation. Thankfully, this was a positive outcome to a scary and potentially deadly situation. We thank God and the rifle plates for saving the deputy’s life.”
This is Pokin Around column No. 193.
