The free Lance-Star

Man guilty of attack on officer

Date published: 10/6/2005

By KEITH EPPS

An inmate who repaid a deputy's kindness with a vicious attack pleaded guilty to multiple charges yesterday in Stafford Circuit Court.

Horace Lavigne Jr., 32, attacked Louisa County Deputy Ed Browder on Dec. 20 of last year.

Lavigne yesterday pleaded guilty to escape by force, attempted possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, using a firearm in the commission of a felony, attempted robbery, malicious wounding and destruction of property.

In return for his guilty pleas, prosecutor Andrea McCauley dropped two charges--attempted capital murder and assault on a police officer.

Lavigne, who is represented by attorney Terence Patton, will be sentenced Nov. 29.

The attack happened as Browder transported Lavigne back to the Rappahannock Regional Jail after a court hearing in Louisa.

According to McCauley, Browder had transported Lavigne several times before and had found him to be cooperative.

As a result, Browder handcuffed Lavigne's hands in front of his body on this trip so he could smoke a cigarette before going back behind bars.

Browder extended the kindness, McCauley said, by stopping outside the jail entrance so Lavigne could finish the cigarette.

The deputy wasn't paying close attention when Lavigne, who had managed to free one hand from the cuffs, came through the sliding partition leading to the front of the cruiser and went for the deputy's gun.

Lavigne hit Browder with the handcuff, causing wounds that later required about 15 stitches, McCauley said.

He also got one hand on the gun and put his other arm around Browder's neck.

As the two wrestled for control, Lavigne said, "Just let me have it. Just let it go, and it will all be over," McCauley quoted.

Browder eventually managed to get hold of his tactical knife, which he used to stab Lavigne twice. But that didn't stop the attack, according to the evidence.

Browder stepped on the accelerator in an attempt to get Lavigne off him. The cruiser went up a hill and struck a rock culvert on the way back down.

The air bag deployed, and Lavigne managed to get out of the cruiser and run, according to court records. Browder watched the prisoner go behind a building on the jail property.

Browder fired his weapon several times to the side of the building in an attempt to lure the inmate into the open. Lavigne came out and walked toward him, Browder testified.

The inmate kept coming despite repeated warnings to stop, according to testimony, and Browder finally shot Lavigne in the leg.

Asked at a preliminary hearing why he shot at Lavigne's leg instead of his chest or head, Browder said, "I didn't think he needed to die that day."

By now, jail staff members and officers had come to Browder's aid and Lavigne was taken back into custody.

Lavigne has a lengthy criminal record and has been in prison almost continuously since 1992, court records show.

Wow that's nuts.  Any time I transport I always, always, always, cuff behind the back.  You just never know what the guy/gal is thinking.

Garrote.  ouch.  

In return for his guilty pleas, prosecutor Andrea McCauley dropped two charges--attempted capital murder and assault on a police officer.

Lazy fucking DA

The inmate kept coming despite repeated warnings to stop, according to testimony, and Browder finally shot Lavigne in the leg

Why shot him in the leg.  He already made his intentions clear.  10 ring him

Asked at a preliminary hearing why he shot at Lavigne's leg instead of his chest or head, Browder said, "I didn't think I needed to fill out that much paperwork that day.

Fixed it for you...

He could also be an incredibly bad shot, that said he aimed for the leg when in reality he was aiming for the chest....lol.  I'm sorry but I agree that prisoner should've died of acute lead poisoning.

I've let someone smoke a cigarette before transporting, but I kept her cuffed behind the back, put the cigarette in her mouth for her, lit the match, had her puff with no hands, and made her suck the thing down in like a minute and a half.  She was just happy to have a cigarette before going to jail for the whole weekend and she was coming off of her crack high also.

I'm reasonable as long as it keeps me safe.

I'm pretty new but I've fugured out two things.  If I'm worried enough the put my hand on my gun then I might as well draw it to low ready or (along my leg as I'm approaching on vehicle approaches), and if they should be cuffed then they should be cuffed in the back or what's the point?

Shot have aimed for the head or chest and saved the taxpayers a lot of $$$.

I've transported people on longer trips with their hands in front - but, I USED A TRANSPORT BELT.  I can't imagine how someone who regularly transported prisoners didn't have one.

wow I was cuffed one time "for the officers safety as well as mine" or so he said. now im a pretty skinny guy and as I stood there with my hands behind my back while he spoke with his partner the cuff on my right arm slipped off "really it just slid right off" I politely tapped him on the shoulder and said "umm sir they came off" and with a grin on his face he said "well ya didn't plan on runnin did ya" I said well no but I just thought you might want to know about it. he took the other one off and we laughed so hard because as soon as he grabbed it-it too slipped off into his hand. He said "Son don't teach nobody that." HELLO it wasn't a trick. But he let me go with a warning.

I did in-service with someone who investigated it and this news article is (amazingly) pretty accurate.

Some time after this event happened I had to go meet a Sgt. from another dept. (about an hour and a half away) and pickup a prisoner  (18 yo male) they had snagged on one of our warrants.  We met in the parking lot of a S.O. that was half way.  I couldn't believe it when I saw them pull up.  Not only was the prisoner cuffed in front, he was sitting in the front seat as well and using the Sgt's cell phone.

After a bit of conversation, I discovered that the kid was not a relative or friend of the Sgt....he just had a "good feeling" about him.  Fuck THAT!

Transports get cuffed in back and the partition window stays closed and locked....period.

Scary!

That deputy should recognize "divine intervention" and seek employment elsewhere.

Quoted: And now for the exact opposite. I was on a transport run one time to pick up 10 prisoners being flown in on another agencies plane. So here we are standing on the tarmac of an international airport watching the plane taxi towards us. The plane stops, the crew opens the door and starts unloading the prisoners. Not one of them had cuffs on...zip, zero..nada. I remember thinking WTF??? After returning to work and talking to some veteran CO's I learned that the police officer who did the transports never put cuffs or body belts on prisoners. He retired a few years ago without on incident. A lot of the prisoners were repeat offenders who had a lot of respect for this cop and they kept the punks in line during the flight.

Browder    GOD    said, "I didn't think he needed to die that day."

Only devine intervention kept this officer and flight crew from something bad.