Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A $500,000 bond was set for a man accused of assaulting multiple corrections officers at the Crawford County jail.
Eighteen-year-old Natavis Briggs appeared in Crawford County Municipal Court Friday afternoon for an initial appearance on a felony 4 charge of assaulting a peace officer. The felony carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine if found guilty.
Briggs was brought in to the jail on April 28 after being arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge involving the family he had been living with at the time. As he was going through the book-in process, Briggs was subject to a shower search.
Assistant prosecutor Rob Kidd stated that Briggs was disruptive and confrontational with the corrections officer. When other deputies arrived to assist the officer, a fight broke out. The original officer sustained a concussion and nerve damage to his neck. Briggs allegedly bit another officer on the arm and broke the skin while a third officer received injuries to his ribs and lacerations to his hands. The young man was Tasered by officers while being detained.
“I was not in my right mind,” Briggs acknowledged while admitting that he had been smoking marijuana earlier that day. “I never swung at an officer.”
Kidd noted that Briggs, who listed the Mansfield address of a family member as his home, had no prior criminal history, but did have minimum contact with the community.
“The allegations are quite serious,” Kidd said. He added that a second-degree charge of felonious assault and additional assault on a peace officer charges would likely be filed with the Grand Jury. The current charge pertained to the original officer involved when Briggs became confrontational.
“All that is a bad situation that tells me, Mr. Briggs, that if released you’re a danger to the community,” Municipal Court Judge Shane Leuthold stated. “I’d hate to imagine what you’d do if you weren’t under arrest in my community.”
Leuthold set bond at $500,000, double the amount recommended by Kidd, and appointed Brad Starkey as Briggs’ attorney.