LEXINGTON, N.C. – Church members in North Carolina reportedly tackled a combative man who they say attempted to force his way inside during services last Sunday.
“He was reaching back in his pants and I just felt like he had a gun or ill intent, and at that point, I knew I could not let him back inside,” Macedonia Free Will Baptist Church member Kevin Toler, told WXII-TV.
Surveillance footage shows NC church members pushing intruder to ground before deputies arrive https://t.co/EDYTQxybFJ
— David Wyatt (@ShemKenan) January 9, 2020
Toler and another church member brought the suspect, identified as Christopher Bennett, to the ground in the incident caught on surveillance video outside of Vanceboro, N.C.
Bennett continued his combative behavior when Craven County deputies arrived. They deployed a Taser on him in order to get him into custody, WITN-TV reported. Responding deputies said the combative subject appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
Moreover, the sheriff’s office said Bennett had assaulted a family member before the incident at the church. The woman told officers Bennett was on crystal meth at the time, WXII reported.
Bennett was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, assault on a female, interfering with emergency communications, false imprisonment, felonious breaking and entering of a motor vehicle and felonious larceny of a motor vehicle, WITN reported.
Christopher Bennett (Craven County Sheriff’s Office)
The incident came just a week after a White Settlement, Texas, church member shot and killed a gunman who entered the building and murdered two people.