Photo contributed by the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office. McMinn County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Redrup’s body cam image from Saturday shows suspect Ricky Lee Womac drawing a .22-caliber mangnum revolver (lower left) a moment before Redrup jammed his own hand into the pistol’s action preventing it from firing.A man McMinn County, Tennessee, deputies disarmed in 2015 after he drew a revolver during a scuffle in the local Walmart was sentenced this week to 80 years in prison.
On Feb. 7, 2015, off-duty McMinn County narcotics officer Jared Price was shopping at the Athens Walmart when he spotted Ricky Lee Womac and recognized him as a suspect wanted on outstanding warrants. Price kept Womac in view while he summoned other officers to the Athens store, Sheriff Joe Guy said in the days after the incident.
Deputies Paul Redrup and Dylan Presswood arrived at the store a few minutes later as Womac reached the checkout line.
“At that point, Mr. Womac was at a cash register,” Guy said in a 2015 release on the incident. “Deputy Redrup approached him from behind and told him he was under arrest. Womac pretended to place some money in his left coat pocket, and that was when he drew a .22-caliber magnum handgun and cocked it.
“Both deputies grabbed Womac and Deputy Redrup was able to place his hand in the revolver’s action,” Guy said. “Womac attempted to fire the weapon but the hammer came down on Redrup’s hand.”