An Apex man cries abuse after being shot by sheriff’s deputies on his own land
Michael Morgan was livid. Really? he thought to himself. A careless-and-reckless-driving citation on my own damn land?
The 32-year-old Apex man whipped open the door to his 3500 Dodge Ram Cummins dual-wheel diesel and climbed in with a sense of purpose. He had a message for the sheriff's deputy who'd given him that ticket.
A few moments later, he was shot twice by a deputy, and then found himself charged with assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon—his truck. When he went on trial last week, he faced the prospect of years behind bars.
That day, July 5, 2013, had been a long one for Morgan. The owner of Mike's Tree Services, a residential tree-removal business, he'd spent 11 hours hauling timber to his privately owned field near the American Tobacco Trail. At about 7:20 that evening, Morgan and his co-worker cruised down Wimberly Road with their final load.
Tailing the truck was Deputy Ricky Spivey, a veteran patrol officer with the Wake County Sheriff's Office. A minute earlier, Spivey had passed Morgan on the road and recognized the lumberman's face. Based on Morgan's past brushes with the law, Spivey knew that he had a revoked driver's license. The deputy popped a U-turn and grabbed his radio: I got an incident with Michael Morgan, he announced.
When Morgan arrived at his property, he jumped his truck over a curbside ditch and entered the field. Spivey followed through a path from the road. "Hey, Spivey, what's going on?" said Morgan, standing at the back of his truck..............read more on INDY week.
