Man shot by Baldwin County Sheriff's deputy arrested in Florida

By The Independent Staff independent@gulfcoastnewspapers.com
Posted 4/9/12

PENSACOLA, Florida --- A Cantonment, Fla., man who was shot while allegedly trying to evade Baldwin County Sheriff’s deputies is now in jail on probation violation charges in Escambia County, Fla.

According to the Escambia County Jail website, …

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Man shot by Baldwin County Sheriff's deputy arrested in Florida

Posted

PENSACOLA, Florida --- A Cantonment, Fla., man who was shot while allegedly trying to evade Baldwin County Sheriff’s deputies is now in jail on probation violation charges in Escambia County, Fla.

According to the Escambia County Jail website, Robert Lamar Vaughn, 43, was arrested late Saturday night and is currently being held without bond at the facility in Pensacola.

Vaughn, whose address at the time of his arrest on Saturday was listed as being on North Ninth Avenue in Pensacola, was arrested in October of 2010 on criminal mischief and trespassing charges where he was listed as having a Cantonment address.

He was listed at the same Cantonment address in April of 2011 when he was arrested on aggravated assault charges.

According to a release issued by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s chief investigator’s office last week, Vaughn was shot by a Baldwin County Sheriff’s Deputy on Tuesday, April 3 after he allegedly pointed a gun at the officer at Uncle Bubba’s store in Seminole.

According to the release, the incident began when the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Robertsdale Police Department and said they were looking for a white male suspect that was “possibly suicidal.”

The man, later identified as Vaughn, was confronted by Robertsdale police at Bethel Cemetery on U.S. Highway 90 near Robertsdale and fled the scene in a blue pickup truck, according to the report.

After failing to yield, officers from the Robertsdale PD and Baldwin County Sheriff’s Deputies pursued the truck along Highway 90 and Sheriff’s deputies were able to spike the suspect’s truck near Seminole.

The suspect continued into Seminole where he pulled into Uncle Bubba's store, exited the truck and ran inside with a rifle. While inside the store, the suspect allegedly pointed the rifle at a deputy through a glass door. The deputy fired a shot striking the suspect in the torso.

The deputy was later identified as Austin Welch, a veteran law enforcement officer assigned to the Sheriff’s Office Uniform Services Division.

The suspect was detained and transported to Sacred Heart Hospital, later released and is now in custody in Florda.

At the time of the incident, the Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit was conducting an ongoing investigation in the case. The Baldwin County Sheriff’s was also reportedly conducting a parallel internal investigation.