In a serious incident in Bay City, a man has been charged with five felonies for allegedly stabbing two police officers and using his one-year-old son as a human shield during an arrest operation. Eshawn K. Langston, 23, was arraigned yesterday for the assaults that took place on Wednesday morning, as reported by ABC12.
Upon arrival at a residence on the 1100 block of North Jackson Street around 12:30 a.m., officers aimed to arrest Langston for a bond violation stemming from a previous domestic violence charge involving the mother of his child, with court files indicating an express prohibition of contact between them, as detailed by a report from MLive. The officers found Langston inside a locked Jeep, the tension escalated rapidly with Langston allegedly refusing to comply and threating the police, ultimately using his child as a shield and stabbing the two officers in the chaos that ensued.
During the attempt to take him into custody, after Langston refused to exit his vehicle, officers were forced to break a window of the vehicle, which is when Langston is said to have held his son on his lap, subsequently driving into a police car when an officer tried to unlock the door. With Bay City Department of Public Safety Director Caleb Rowell referencing multiple threats made by Langston, including that "they will have to kill him before they get him out of that car," all leading to the use of a taser and the tragic escalation to the stabbing, according to ABC12.
The aftermath of the confrontation found a sergeant with a stab wound in his lower abdomen and a patrol officer with a gash on his thigh, both officers on the mend after receiving quick treatment, whereas the child involved was left unharmed in the incident; the police vehicle Langston rammed suffered an estimated $3,358 in damage which was cited from the officers' reports by MLive. During his interrogation, Langston claimed to have "blacked out" when the police broke his Jeep's window, and in a moment of apparent desperation, he asked officers "Why would ya'll do that with my kid in the car?" suggesting his belief that his child's presence might somehow absolve him from the weight of his actions.
Langston, who has a prior conviction for attempted assault on police, faces two counts of assaulting police causing injury, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of fourth-degree child abuse; his bond was set at $25,000 cash, with a preliminary examination scheduled for December 23, reveals MLive.
Body-worn camera footage has been reviewed, providing a disturbing account of the event, with officials seeking to release said footage to the public as soon as it's feasible, "They are both doing well, in good spirits, take a little bit to recover from their injuries but they are doing well," Rowell told ABC12, regarding the condition of the injured officers.
