RFP Staff
♦ According to Rowan County Sheriff’s Office sources two deputies responded to a 911 call at 10:26 a.m. to 6925 Old Beatty Ford Road in Rockwell. A woman at the residence told the 911 dispatcher that a 71 year-old man was “acting out of his head” and the caller was afraid of him.
After the deputies arrived, they discovered that EMS and family members were attempting to get the man, Robert Dean Ashby under control and to convince him to leave the home. One of the family members warned the officers that Ashby was armed with a handgun and had access to multiple firearms.
When the deputies learned Ashby was armed, they moved from the door only moments before the door was shot twice with a .45 pistol.
Ashby eventually gave up and was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
The Sheriff’s Office obtained warrants on Ashby for 2 counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement official (felony) and one count of resisting a public officer (misdemeanor). The warrants will be served pending Ashby’s release from the hospital.
Janet Ashby Russell, 51, was arrested at the scene and charged with resist/delay/obstruct a public officer (misdemeanor). She was held at the Rowan County Detention Center before she bonded out.
**This article will be updated as more information arrives.**
