BEDFORD — A Bedford man with an active arrest warrant was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon, June 16, after a report of an erratic person carrying a stick led to a physical struggle with Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies.
Tanner T. Box, 33, was arrested on-site at a property on Brown Station Road. In addition to his outstanding warrant, Box is now facing new criminal charges of interfering with public safety and public intoxication by drugs.
The incident began when Lawrence County Police Officer Kenton Carter was dispatched to the 1400 block of Brown Station Road following a call regarding an unwanted person on the property. The homeowner informed emergency dispatchers that a man was wandering around the area with a stick and appeared to be heavily under the influence of narcotics.
While en route, Officer Carter—who recognized the location and description from previous law enforcement encounters—requested dispatch check for active hard-copy warrants on Tanner Box. Dispatchers quickly confirmed that Box did have an active, outstanding warrant through Lawrence County.
Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Carter spotted a shirtless, heavily sweating male pacing erratically back and forth near a tree line. Officer Carter immediately recognized the man as Box. Fearing that Box’s highly altered mental state might cause him to flee into the woods, the officer exited his vehicle and jogged toward him to quickly gain control.
As Officer Carter closed the distance, Box walked away with his hands hidden behind his back. When the officer grabbed Box’s wrists to secure him in handcuffs, Box immediately tensed his entire body and refused to move his arms. To prevent the situation from escalating and to gain leverage, Officer Carter executed a leg sweep, bringing Box down to the ground.
Once on the grass, the struggle intensified. Box flipped onto his stomach and tightly tucked both of his arms underneath his body, completely hiding his hands and waistband from the deputy’s view.
“Throughout the struggle, Tanner kept both arms tucked beneath him. At that time, it was still unknown whether Tanner possessed any weapons,” Officer Carter noted in the affidavit.
Officer Carter issued multiple loud verbal commands for Box to stop resisting and show his hands, but Box refused. After a forearm strike proved ineffective at pulling Box’s arms free, Officer Carter delivered a closed-fist strike to the right side of Box’s face, striking him near the orbital area above his eye to gain compliance.
Captain Pope arrived on the scene moments later, assisting Officer Carter in physically wrenching Box’s left arm free. The two deputies were then able to successfully secure him in handcuffs.
Once the threat was neutralized, deputies noticed a bleeding laceration above Box’s right eye caused by the compliance strike. As they escorted him back to the patrol vehicle, Box was unable to communicate normally, continually uttering incoherent statements.
Recognizing that Box was suffering from a combination of a severe drug-induced psychological episode and potential heat-related illness from pacing shirtless in the sun, the deputies provided him with water and immediately transported him to IU Health Bedford Hospital for an emergency medical evaluation.
While being treated by hospital staff, Box spontaneously admitted to Captain Pope and medical personnel that he had been inhaling “air duster”—a common household compressed gas cleaner frequently abused as an inhalant to achieve a rapid, dissociative high.
After being formally treated and medically cleared by physicians, Box was transported to the Lawrence County Security Center, where he was remanded into jail custody.
All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This article is based on the information provided in the probable cause affidavit and does not represent a final determination of guilt or innocence.
