By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- Nine members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force fell to the ground when a second-story wooden deck collapsed while they were serving an arrest warrant in Huntsville, Missouri, on July 21.
- Body camera footage shows the officers standing in a line outside an apartment door before the deck gave way; none of their weapons discharged.
- Seven officers were treated and released from a hospital for injuries including broken bones, according to a U.S. Marshals official.
- The task force included the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, Moberly Police Department and North Missouri Drug Task Force, working with the U.S. Marshals Service.
- The wanted man, sought for failing to register as a sex offender, was taken into custody later that day.
HUNTSVILLE, Mo. — Body camera footage released this week shows nine members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force falling to the ground when a second-story wooden deck collapsed beneath them while they were attempting to serve an arrest warrant.
The video shows the deck giving way on July 21 as officers, several holding firearms, stood in a line outside an apartment door. The officers fell straight down within seconds; none of their weapons discharged during the fall.
The Randolph County Sheriff’s Department said the task force included members of its office along with the Moberly Police Department and the North Missouri Drug Task Force, working in coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the warrant.
Seven officers were treated and released from a hospital for injuries described as “consistent with a pretty serious fall,” including broken bones, Steven Lewis, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Missouri, told a Columbia, Missouri, television station.
The 26-year-old man officers were seeking, wanted for failing to register as a sex offender, was taken into custody later the same day, according to U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Abigail Meyer.