Sheriff's deputy injured in arrest of burglary suspect

Feb. 1—A man believed to have returned to Owensboro after being deported to Mexico was charged with assaulting and disarming a Daviess County sheriff's deputy during a burglary Sunday in the 6800 block of Thoma Drive.

The incident was reported at 4:37 a.m. Sunday.

Sheriff's department reports say deputies were called to the neighborhood after children living in the home went to a neighbor's house and said their mother's ex-boyfriend had broken into their home. Reports say the children identified the man as Jose M.Velazquez-Ocampo, 30, and said he had been deported to Mexico in December.

Reports say the oldest child told deputies their mother was at work and that Ocampo had apparently shut off the home's power to avoid being caught on motion cameras. When Deputy Jacob Gould entered the home and called to Ocampo, he heard glass breaking, and a second deputy saw Ocampo running from the home.

Reports say Gould holstered his sidearm and was able to catch up with Ocampo, and the two began to struggle. Reports said Ocampo had his hands near Gould's duty belt, and that the two fell into a ditch, where Gould saw his firearm come out of its holster and land on the ground with Ocampo "reaching toward it as we went down."

Reports say the two continued to struggle, with Ocampo allegedly making more attempts to reach the firearm. Reports say three deputies were needed to get Ocampo into handcuffs, and he continued to fight until he was in the patrol vehicle.

Gould's hand was fractured in the incident.

Ocampo was charged with second-degree burglary, disarming a peace officer, third-degree assault (police officer), first-degree wanton endangerment (police officer), first-degree fleeing/evading police, first-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest.

Reports say Gould reported hearing his firearm click into its holster and believed it was secure. Sheriff Brad Youngman said the holsters will be examined to determine if firearms are securing correctly.

Gould will be on light duty until his hand heals.

Youngman said he has asked that third-degree assault not be dismissed.

"If one of my deputies is assaulted, I expect that charge to stick," he said. "I did talk to County Attorney (John) Burlew about the case, and he said he will give it the attention it deserves."

Ocampo is being held on a $100,000 full-cash bond in the Daviess County Detention Center.

"I would like to commend all the deputies on-scene for being able to regain control over the situation," Youngman said.

He said deputies' actions prevented "many more injuries."