‘We’re lucky we don’t have a bunch of dead officers’: Anson police retrieve arsenal from family home in welfare check
ANSON, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Anson police seized an alarming amount of firearms, ammunition, and drugs from a call that originated as a welfare check. That call would soon turn very worrisome.
Police told KTAB/KRBC they received a call from a woman last Monday, March 25, who reported that her grandchildren were sending her disturbing text messages. In the messages, the children told their grandmother about a fight between their parents which allegedly left their mother unconscious.
The mother and children will remain unidentified. However, Anson authorities named Lester Brown as the father of the children who feared their mother wasn’t alive.
At the time of the call, the house was occupied by Brown, his wife, and their three children- ages 10, seven, and three.
A single officer, Lieutenant James Blankenship, arrived to the Brown household, and was met only by sounds of barking dogs. Shortly after the officer’s arrival, dispatch changed the nature of the call.
“She said, ‘oh, by the way, this guy is possibly armed and dangerous. He has threatened to kill the family and bury them under the house,'” Lt. Blankenship relayed.
After the nature of the call changed, support from multiple agencies arrived to the Anson home; including Jones County Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol, and Abilene SWAT. Chief Daniel Graziose with Anson PD made contact with Brown via a cell phone to begin negotiations. After roughly 30 minutes of talking with the suspect, Brown was taken into custody without incident.
“This had the potential to go very bad,” shared Chief Graziose. “The City of Anson, you know, we’re a fairly small department. It’s not something we can handle alone.”
Lt. Blankenship added, “We’re lucky we don’t have a bunch of dead officers.”
Upon entering the home, police found the mother of the children with minor injuries, and the children uninjured. She was taken to a nearby hospital, treated, and released.
Madyson Lovett, evidence technician for Anson PD, told KTAB/KRBC officers discovered a quite literal arsenal inside the home.
“Five pistols, six assault rifles, 20+ hunting rifles, 1,300 rounds of 556, 30 to 40 rounds of 7.62 alone, over 600 rounds of 9-millimeter, 50+ rounds of 40-cal, body armor level four which is thicker than a lot of officers have in their armor,” listed Lovett.
The volume of what was recovered prompted officers to further investigate properties that Lester Brown owns, where they seized more firearms, ammunition, body armor, and drugs included marijuana which was separated in a fashion that would indicate that Brown was possibly distributing illicit drugs.
The Anson Police Department said in a statement that Lester Brown has had several run-ins with the law in the past: “Further investigation revealed Brown has several previous convictions for aggravated assault, deadly conduct with a firearm, assault-family violence (with previous convictions, and evading arrest).“
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It was also revealed that Brown had spent a number of years in prison, which also legally prevents him from owning firearms, ammunition, and in some cases, body armor. Among the possessions seized were several gun parts and assault rifles that were in various stages of being illegally converted by Brown into “fully automatic weapons.”
Lester brown is currently being held in the Jones County Jail without bond.
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