[UT] Washington Co. Sheriff’s deputy thought he'd die in domestic violence attack

...The deputy eventually lost consciousness. “I thought, ‘I’m dead. This is it. I’m going to go out because some idiot came after me and killed me”...

TRIAL DATE SET FOR SUSPECT IN BEATING OF EX-GIRLFRIEND, SHERIFF'S DEPUTY
St. George Daily Spectrum
1:11 PM, Jan. 17, 2012
[Excerpts] A trial date has been scheduled for a St. George resident accused of beating his ex-girlfriend and a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy with a shovel handle during a brutal fit of jealousy. Cameron Aaron Carson, 26, is on the schedule for a three-to-five-day trial in 5th District Court beginning April 30 on felony charges of aggravated burglary and two counts of aggravated assault... [His attorney, Douglas] Terry said he believed bail was set at more than a quarter of a million dollars, cash, because one of the alleged victims is a police officer... The officer and Carson’s ex-girlfriend both testified they were afraid of a possible threat to themselves and the community if Carson should be released. The woman testified Carson knew the other victim was a deputy... The deputy testified that on the night of the assualt, he had fallen asleep on his bed after watching a video with the woman, when he heard his bedroom door being kicked inward. He thought it might be his roommate coming home, he said, but after seeing a man wearing a ski mask and carrying what appeared to be a baseball bat in the half-light of the room, he began to realize there was a threat involved. The deputy was able to shield the woman from the initial blows, he said, and ultimately got the “bat” away from the alleged intruder, but in the process the deputy found himself in a chokehold with the intruder behind him. “I was grabbing anything I could — a fan — anything I could to fight back,” he said, adding he was unable to reach his gun. The deputy eventually lost consciousness. “I thought, ‘I’m dead. This is it. I’m going to go out because some idiot came after me and killed me,” he said. Carson’s ex-girlfriend called 911 while the attack was going on, and then fled outside after believing Carson had killed the deputy, she testified. There, Carson caught her while she was hiding behind a vehicle and “bashed” her head onto the corner of a brick wall, she said. The suspect then allegedly began hitting her with the stick, which arresting officers later determined was a shovel handle. The violent incident came to an end when a neighbor responded to the woman’s cries for help, pointing a gun at Carson and ordering him to step away from her and wait until police arrived... [Full article here]
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence ipv abuse law enforcement public safety lethal utah state politics]