A call concerning a disorder with a weapon over the Memorial Day weekend led to a SWAT call-out, and ultimately a man convicted of murder 20 years ago going back behind bars.
According to East Ridge Municipal Court records, Kenneth W. Beard Jr., was taken into custody by ERPD officers as he tried to flee a home on Burns Avenue, early Monday morning. Beard, 50, of a 1528 Burns Avenue address, was booked into the Hamilton County Jail on charges of Aggravated Domestic Assault and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon. He is scheduled to appear in municipal court on July 16.
According to an affidavit of complaint, officers were dispatched to the Burns Avenue address just after 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. While en route, dispatchers notified officers that the victim and his mother had left the Burns Avenue house and wanted to speak with police at a Ringgold Road location.
According to the report, the male victim, a cousin of Beard’s, told police that he and his mother along with an intoxicated Beard were in the Burns Avenue house when Beard wanted to use his mother’s vehicle. When the woman refused to allow Beard to borrow the vehicle, Beard became upset and began arguing with the pair. When the man took some clothes to his mother’s van, Beard slugged him in the mouth, the report states.
According to the report, Beard then pulled out a silver handgun, pointed it at the man, and said he would shoot him if he called police. The victim and his mother left the residence and called police.
The report states that officers then responded to the Burns Avenue address. Two officers went to the back of the house, while two others approached from the front. The report states that officers saw lights coming on and going off inside the residence. When officers went to the door and knocked, one of them saw a man crouching inside in the hallway. Beard did not answer the door.
The report states that at about 10:30 p.m., the SWAT team was requested to respond to the scene. The SWAT team negotiator made several attempts to communicate with Beard, but without avail.
According to the report, in an attempt to hasten Beard’s departure from the house, SWAT team members deployed C-2 gas inside the residence at about 2:30 a.m. on Monday. When Beard tried to flee the house through a back window, officers were there to apprehend him.
The report states that the victim and his mother were allowed to re-enter the house at about 4:20 a.m. to get their property. A few minutes later, the male victim called police and told them that he had found a 32-caliber handgun wrapped in a hand towel under Beard’s bed. The gun was turned over to police and it was placed into property and evidence.
According to the report, the reporting officer discovered that Beard was convicted of First-Degree Murder in 1999, and pleaded guilty to Aggravated Assault in 2007.
