Sarah Quintas
editor@mitchellnews.com
An incident at a local Walmart on Feb. 16 has sparked intense scrutiny after a K9 officer with the N.C. Department of Corrections was arrested and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest during what appears to have been a diabetic crisis.
At approximately 8 p.m., Dillion Ledford, who was returning home from a powerlifting gym, experienced a sudden drop in blood sugar — a dangerous and potentially fatal condition known as hypoglycemia. Recognizing the onset of symptoms, he pulled into the Walmart parking lot in Spruce Pine, only to lose consciousness.
Ledford recounted the events leading to his arrest. “I was coming up the mountain, coming home from the gym,” said Ledford. “I felt my blood sugar getting low... I became unconscious.” He stated that despite his condition, no medical attention was given to him at the scene.
“I was nonverbal, I was completely out of it,” Ledford says his last memory is of pulling into the Walmart parking lot. “This is just what [the officers] told me. I wasn’t communicating with them. I had my badge in my pocket. They tased me multiple times, although I wasn’t really aware of what was happening. They placed me in the back of the car, it had been over an hour from [when I arrived at Walmart]. I was unconscious in the back of the cop car. Later, I was finally able to tell someone what happened. They went and got me a pack of crackers and a Mountain Dew. They told me they thought I had overdosed.”
Mitchell News-Journal has acquired video footage from the Walmart parking lot taken at 9:15 p.m. showing a yellow Mini Cooper encircled by police vehicles. Amidst the chaos, Ledford’s cries for help are audible, while eyewitness accounts describe a quick escalation to physical confrontation and tasing by police.
“They pulled him out of his car, went from [what sounded like] beating to 2 or 3 tases,” recounted eyewitness Theres’e Mclaughlin Barnes, who was walking into Walmart with her family.
Severe hypoglycemia, a condition known to rapidly become an emergency for individuals with diabetes, can mimic those of substance abuse or intoxication. Ledford, a type 1 diabetic, says he experienced a sudden drop in blood sugar leading to confusion, weakness, and eventual unconsciousness.
The Walmart manager involved spoke of the moment leading up to the police being called. “When I went out to talk to him, he wouldn’t say a word. He just looked at me and then looked back at the steering wheel three times. And I said ‘This is for online pickup, if you’re not [picking up] you need to move to a different spot and if you’re not going to do that, you need to leave.’ And he didn’t respond. So I went and I called the police and said ‘A gentleman is not responding to me so we need to do a wellness check.’ And that’s what we’re required to do if we’re concerned about somebody, we need to do a wellness check.”
Mitchell News-Journal reached out to Police Chief Kacey Cook for insight on protocol. “It’s kind of common sense on welfare checks,” stated Cook. He emphasized that officers must assess each situation individually, suggesting that standard procedures may vary based on circumstances encountered upon arrival.
“It’s out of our hands at this point. We’ve notified the SBI and they’ve taken the case over, so they’re running with the investigation at this point,” Cook said.
The Spruce Pine Police Department issued a brief statement following the incident saying, “On Feb. 16, 2024, at approximately 8 p.m., officers responded to a law enforcement matter at the Spruce Pine Walmart. An individual was arrested and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. The matter has been turned over to the NC SBI for investigation.”