NORTH FLORIDA FOCUS AUGUST'23-24, 2006, PAGE 7C Madison County's John wins& On Tuesday evening, Aug. 1, the Florida Sheriffs Asso- ciation presented one if its highest awards and honors given by Sheriffs in Florida- the Deputy Sheriff of the Year-to Madison County Deputy John Sleigher Jr. Deputy Sleigher is originally from Pennsylvania. This award is reserved for outstanding individuals who have distinguished them- selves through exemplary performance of their duties. .The job of the committee selecting an individual to re- ceive the award is not an easy one, as numerous nomina- tions are submitted from the 67 Sheriffs' offices for con- sideration. Committee mem- bers, made up of veteran law enforcement; look for those who serve the office of Sher- iff with dedication and devo- tion. After hearing the story about the actions of Deputy Sleigher, which led his Sher- iff to nominate him, they agreed he was worthy of recognition. At the awards banquet, held at the Daytona Beach Hilton, Deputy Sleigher and his family watched a video re-enactment of the incident that led to his nomination. Then, before the audience of 500 Sheriffs, spouses and law enforcement elite, Deputy Sleigher received a hand- some plaque and check for, $1,000. Read on for more about Deputy Sleigher's heroic ac- tions. Domestic incident esca- 'lates On the night of Oct., 5, 2005, Deputy Sleigher was dispatched, teo assist in what viwas reported to be a verbal domestic in a rural neighbor- hood of Madison County. While en route, Deputy Sleigher learned that the call had escalated and the suspect was now holding; a knife to his victim's neck. As he arrived at the ad- dress,. Deputy Sleigher saw a, white female holding a baby in her arms and standing at the end of the drie\a\N. She told the deputy that her moth- er's. boyfriend was inside and he had been threatening her mother. The' boy friend was holding a butcher knife to her mother's throat and said, he wouldd kill her if he saw any police. The woman in the drive- S eigher Jr. Deputy Sheriff of the Year 2006 way said she had not heard her mother's voice for some time and assumed he had stabbed her. Then she added, "You're probably going to have to shoot him." Deputy Sleigher drew his .40 caliber Beretta pistol and prepared to enter a door on the double wide home. He said his thought was that if the suspect had already killed the victim, then the man might be waiting inside to ambush law enforcement. What happened next took place only in a matter of about 20 seconds, but as any deputy will tell you, these types of confrontations feel like they last much longer. The door that Deputy Sleigher entered opened to the living room. As he stepped in, he heard a faint cry coming from another room and moved toward it. At the opening of the kitchen,. he saw a white male strad- dling a white female on the floor, holding an 8-inch blade on the left side of her neck. The man's face was close to hers, so they were chest-to- chest. Sleigher yelled for the man. to drop the knife, but the sus- pect held the knife closer and indicated he planned to kill the woman. Again, Sleigher ordered him to put the knife down, but the suspect made eye contact with the deputy and said, "Shoot me or she dies." Knowing he didn't have a clear' shot, Sleigher moved closer. and ordered the sus- pect to put down the knife. The man stared back at Sleigher with a .crazed ex- pression. He then let out a type of war, cry and arched back as if to get momentum for a stabbing. motion. Now with a clear shot, Deputy Sleigher fired two rounds into the suspect's right side, below his armpit, but the bul- lets didn't seem to faze the man. Instead, he pulled back more and kept the knife posi- tioned in a stabbing motion. Seeing that the suspect was about to lash out, Deputy Sleigher lunged forward to- ward the knife, and grabbed the victim's left bicep. He pulled her out from under- neath the suspect with one, hand, while simultaneously discharging another four rounds ; into the suspect's chest and upper torso. Incred- ibly. all. the shots from Deputy Sleigher's gun were fired from an almost kneeling position and all hit the sus- pect. The man collapsed and rolled onto his back. Now holding the victim against his chest, Deputy Sleigher pulled the woman into the dining room and checked her for injuries. Amazingly, she had not been stabbed or shot. He called dispatch and advised, "shots fired, suspect down, send EMS." Deputy Sleigher then es- corted the victim out of the house. Violence, threats a pattern Investigators following up on the shooting were able to paint a more complete pic- ture of the incident. The vic- tim and suspect had been dat- ing for almost a year. A med- ically diagnosed .paranoid schizophrenic who refused' to take his medication, the man had a history of abuse in this and previous relationships. An ex girlfriend .reported that, for a time, the suspect 'had been hard working and supported their two children. But he drank regularly and threatened her. He had physi- cally abused his own body by cutting and burning himself. And he once attempted sui-. cide by cutting his wrist. He -told his then-girlfriend that he was afraid to commit sui- cide because he thought he would go to hell. The relationship of the suspect and his victim had been rocky. The man had been physically abusive to the victim on numerous oc- casions, convincing her to quit her job of five years be- cause of his paranoia that she was cheating on him. They moved frequently, following his roofing jobs, but he be- .came increasingly paranoid and abusive. On several prior occasions he had threatenedd her with a knife to the throat. She managed to get away from him for two months, but he eventually found her and they moved in together. The night of the incident, the mother, daughter 'and boyfriend had been drinking- beer together and playing cards. The suspect had con- sumed about two. six packs and the couple had started ar- guing. He was accusing her of infideliry and said he had et idence that she had been fooling around on him. P1 FLORIDA DEPUTY SHERIFF OF THE YEAR 2006: Pictured, I to r, Madison County Sheriff Pete Buch- er, Deputy John Sleigher Jr., his wife and daughters, Suzanne; Sarah and Rebecca. Photo: Submitted The woman was trying to get her boyfriend to leave, but the man's temper became violent. He grabbed his vic- tim by the back of the hair and pinned her against the counter, holding the knife to her throat. The daughter tried to intervene, but the suspect pushed her out of the way and said he would kill her mother "as soon as the cops get here." The 'daughter re- trieved her infant from .the bedroom and called 911. She overheard the suspect saying things. to her mother like, "You are the last one I will ever be with; there will be no one else." When the victim tried to get away from her boyfriend, they both landed on the kitchen floor, .which is when the suspect strad- dled her and pinned her down. Training key to successful response It's clear from this story that Madison County Sher- iff's Deputy John Sleigher's actions were the result of training he's 'received in his seven-year law enforcement career-plus four years in the military. Deputy Sleigher credits this combination for helping him prepare mental- ly for the incident as well as recover quickly following the confrontation. He says he is now using what he's learned from this and other critical incidents to build a Sheriff's Office Tactical Team in Madison County. 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