Law enforcement remains silent on details about incident, arrest
In a follow-up to an incident at a Spruce Pine Walmart on Feb. 16, additional video footage released by WLOS has intensified concerns over the actions of responding officers. Dillion Ledford, a K9 officer with the N.C. Department of Corrections, found himself at the center of a contentious arrest during what was described as 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 previously recounted the events leading to his arrest to the Mitchell News-Journal.
“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 said. He said his last memory is of pulling into the Walmart parking lot.
Ledford went into the store and came back out over the course of 8 minutes. Remaining in his parking spot for another 40 minutes, store employees then called 911 for a wellness check, reporting that Ledford was twitching and unresponsive. Arriving within 12 minutes of the call, three officers approached Ledford’s vehicle. Within a span of less than four minutes, they extracted him from his car. Despite the video’s clarity issues, it seems the officers then struck him multiple times and used a taser on him repeatedly. The video can be seen on the WLOS website, wlos.com.
“This is just what [the officers] told me,” Ledford said. “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.”
The absence of EMS at the scene and the decision to arrest Ledford for trespassing and resisting arrest have raised questions from the community.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is currently reviewing allegations of excessive force involving the officers.
The district attorney has indicated that the investigation is ongoing and refrained from commenting further until the investigative findings are fully reviewed.