Man in body armor with AK-47 confronts deputies outside NC home, officials say

Deputies trying to serve an arrest warrant in rural North Carolina found their suspect in the worst possible way: Standing in his carport wearing body armor and holding an AK-47, according to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office.

Patrick James Donovan, 46, of Pelham, “confronted“ the deputies at 6:55 p.m. Friday and ordered them to “leave the property,” the department said in a release. Pelham is an unincorporated community near North Carolina’s Virginia border, about 40 miles northeast of Greensboro.

The two deputies didn’t leave but did take cover, officials said. (A fully automatic AK-47 can fire hundreds of rounds per minute, but only semi-automatic settings are legal in the U.S., according to Military.com.)

Donovan’s arrest warrant was for “misdemeanor simple assault,” the department said.

“After taking a position of cover behind their patrol cars, Rockingham County Sheriff’s deputies ... told Donovan they had a warrant from his arrest for an incident that had happened earlier in the day in Caswell County,” the release said. “Donovan then fled into the surrounding wooded area.”

Negotiations began to coax Donovan into surrendering peacefully, officials said. He came out of the woods after about 10 minutes and “placed his rifle on the ground and surrendered” without firing, the release said.

His troubles were compounded by the incident, however.

“In addition to the outstanding arrest warrant from Caswell County, (he) was charged two counts of assault on a law enforcement officer by pointing a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon,” the news release said.

Donovan was taken to the Rockingham County Detention Facility under a $1 million secured bond, officials said. His first court appearance will be Dec. 14, officials said.

This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 8:45 AM with the headline "Man in body armor with AK-47 confronts deputies outside NC home, officials say."