Waverly man charged with felonious assault in incident allegedly involving Pike County sheriff's deputy

A 39-year-old Pike County man is currently incarcerated in the Fayette County Jail, charged with felonious assault on a law enforcement officer and aggravated robbery, stemming from an alleged incident that reportedly occurred on U.S. 35 West in Wayne Township during the early morning hours of Jan. 16.  

According to Sheriff Vernon Stanforth, at approximately 5:17 a.m., the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office responded to U.S. 35 West around mile marker 87, on a report of an officer in distress. Upon their arrival, Fayette County deputies were able to locate two males, one being a Pike County Sheriff’s deputy and the other being a Pike County Jail inmate, later identified as Jimmy L. Mills, 39, of Waverly, who were allegedly involved in a physical altercation with one another. 

At that time, FCSO deputies were able to assist in taking the inmate back into custody. After securing the inmate, an investigation provided that during the transport, the inmate was allegedly able to remove a portion of the transport cage and began trying to use it to escape from the transport van. 

The Pike County deputy reported that upon stopping the van to try to prevent the inmate from escaping, the inmate allegedly used the piece of the metal partition to assault the deputy and then exited the secured area and attempted to steal the transport van. The PCSO deputy reported that during the struggle, the inmate allegedly attempted to remove the deputy’s firearm from his holster before fleeing on foot into a nearby field, where he was later taken into custody.

The Pike County deputy was later transported by Fayette County EMS to the Adena Fayette emergency room, where he was treated for injuries sustained in the incident.
 
Mills is currently incarcerated in the Fayette County Jail on the above felony charges, as well as charges from the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.