Loudon cops sic K-9 on ‘agile’ inmate who refused to leave jail cell

By J.J. Stambaugh knoxnews.com
 
An inmate at the Loudon County Jail was taken to the hospital today after a police dog was used to flush him out of his cell, authorities said.

The incident marked the second time the inmate, identified as 29-year-old Gorden Dale Narmore of Loudon, had been bitten by a police dog while confronting officers, according to Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Lonnie Gaut.

Narmore has been arrested 42 separate times in Loudon County since 1998 and usually fights with officers, Gaut said.

When today’s incident happened, Narmore was being held without bond on charges stemming from a March 26 traffic stop including felony fleeing, resisting arrest, driving on a revoked license, and “escape for when he got out of the back of an ambulance” after he was bitten by a K-9 unit, Gaut said.

About 8:50 a.m. today, Narmore refused to get out of his cell “and the only alternative left was to bring in a K-9 and he was still noncompliant,” according to Sheriff Tim Guider.

“When he would not comply, after all efforts failed, the dog was deployed and he was bit on the arm,” Guider said.

Narmore was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and then returned to custody, Guider said.

Past encounters with Narmore have shown that “he’s a pretty agile person” who is “kind of immune” to pepper spray, Guider said. Loudon County deputies aren’t equipped with Tasers, and the corrections officers made the decision to use the dog to ensure he complied with their orders.

Guider said he has resisted ordering Tasers for his department but might change his mind after today’s incident.

“I feel certain this would have been a situation they would have played a good role in, but under the circumstances we didn’t have that,” he said. “That’s just a better way to deal with things.”

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4/16/10