Man Wounded in Officer Involved Shooting Gets Probation

A man who was shot after drawing a weapon on two officers of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department over four years ago has been granted probation.
58 year old Randy Gerald Petty appeared for a sentencing hearing Friday in DeKalb County Criminal Court before Judge David Patterson.
In June, Petty entered a plea to two counts of attempted aggravated assault and is facing a three year sentence in each case to run consecutively for a total of six years. The hearing Friday was to determine how Petty was to serve the six years, either on probation, in prison, or split confinement. As a special mitigated offender, Petty would have only been required to serve 20% of the sentence (one year and two months) before becoming eligible for parole had he gone to prison.
On May 23, 2013, Deputies (at the time) Jeremy Taylor and Erik Russell responded to a 911 call of shots being fired at 255 Petty Road in Smithville. There, while standing at the rear of Deputy Taylor’s vehicle, Deputy Russell saw and heard something off to his side. Using his flashlight, Russell spotted Randy Petty pointing a scoped rifle at the two deputies. Both of them drew their weapons and fired, striking Petty several times in his extremities (arm and leg).
Petty was named in a sealed indictment by the DeKalb County Grand Jury in April, 2014 charging him with the more serious offenses of two counts of attempted first degree murder. He was arrested without incident by agents of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Over the last four years, Petty has undergone several surgeries but the injuries he suffered in the shooting have left him with permanent damage affecting the use of his arm and hand. But Petty is now getting better medication treatment for a mental health issue and that condition has improved.
During Friday’ s sentencing hearing, Petty asked the judge to grant him probation, saying that while he did not fire any shots at the officers he is sorry for what he did. Petty said he had consumed some homemade wine the night of the incident and suffered from a mental disorder which affected his behavior. “I’m not saying it wasn’t dangerous. I walked up on them (officers) and spooked them but I can look back on it now and know I was crazy,” said Petty.
Three of Petty’s sisters and a nephew by marriage, who is also a McMinnville Police Officer, testified that Petty has changed since the shooting. According to them, Petty was a difficult person to be around before because of his mental state, in that he often didn’t make sense when he talked and could be argumentative. They blamed his behavior on a misdiagnoses of his condition for which he was not prescribed the proper medication. After the shooting, though his physical condition has suffered, his mental state has improved after being treated at Vanderbilt Hospital with the proper medicines. Members of the family said since the shooting, Petty has not been in any trouble with the law and mostly stays at home supervising the care of his elderly mother. The family asked the court to grant Petty probation.
Sheriff Patrick Ray, who also testified, asked the judge to not be swayed by the lasting effect of the injuries Petty sustained in making his ruling on sentencing.
“As Sheriff here in DeKalb County and also as the employer of the two deputies who were involved in this incident, I have an obligation to not only the two officers involved but also the citizens of DeKalb County to testify today”.
“I understand Mr. Petty has sustained injuries that he may suffer with for the rest of his life, but these 2 officers have something that will last all their lives also. We as law enforcement officers take people to court that have gotten injured while committing crimes and they are appropriately sentenced for their crimes regardless of their injuries. I would ask the court to not use Mr. Petty’s injuries while sentencing him today”.
“I would also ask the court to look at the crime Mr. Petty has committed, review the charges my officers from my department have agreed to let him plea to, and sentence Mr. Petty as the court sees fit”.
In making his plea for probation, Petty’s Attorney Jeremy Trapp pointed out to the court that his client has undergone a life changing experience because of the shooting; that he has engaged in no further criminal behavior within the past four and a half years since the shooting; and that no testimony or proof was shown during the hearing to indicate that the officers involved suffered any injuries or emotional anguish.