5 arrested — including the victim — after East Flaget Avenue shooting incident
NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT
Tuesday, April 7, 2015, 11:52 p.m. — Three men and a woman from Louisville were arrested on attempted murder and attempted home invasion charges Tuesday afternoon following a shooting incident in the 100 block of East Flaget Avenue.
At 1:51 p.m., Bardstown Police were dispatched for a report of shots fired on East Flaget Avenue. Police determined that two men attempted to break into an upstairs apartment in order to collect an alleged drug debt owed by the man who lived there.
From left, Lawrece Louise Ratcliffe, 19; Jarde Dior Ezell, 24; William Dominique Leonard Ezell, 23; and John Robert Sanders, 22, all of Louisville, were arrested by police following an investigation of a attempted home invasion and murder at an upstairs apartment in the 100 block of East Flaget.
Police say the men tried to break the door down before firing at least two shots through the door which struck a wall inside the apartment. An alert eyewitness saw the men get into a silver Ford Expedition and noticed the license plate.
The SUV passed a police officer just as Nelson County Dispatch broadcast the vehicle’s description, and the officer turned around and attempted to catch the vehicle. The SUV traveled down Bloomfield Road to East Stephen Foster where it turned west. The police pursuit ended at the Five Star Food Mart at the corner of Second and East Stephen Foster.
Brandon T. Reed, 34, of Bardstown, the victim in Tuesday’s attempted home invasion, was arrested on an outstanding traffic warrant.
Police were unable to find a weapon in the vehicle. With the help of Officer Jeremy Cauley’s K-9 Ace, a search along the SUV’s path resulted in discovery of a Glock .40 caliber handgun near the entrance of Wickland Baptist Church and an extended capacity magazine and loose handgun ammunition in the yard of a home at 462 Bloomfield Road.
William D. Leonard Ezell, 23, was charged with attempted murder, burglary, first-degree; wanton endangerment, first-degree; and tampering with physical evidence.
Jarde D. Ezell, 24, was charged with complicity to attempted murder; complicity to burglary, first-degree; and wanton endangerment, first-degree.
John Robert Sanders, 22, was charged with complicity to attempted murder.
Lawrece L. Ratcliffe, 19, was charged with complicity to attempted murder, fleeing and evading police, first-degree; wanton endangerment, first-degree; and endangering the welfare of a minor. Ratcliffe’s two-week old infant was in the SUV with the four adults. The baby was placed in the custody of a family member.
The victim, Brandon T. Reed, 34, of Bardstown, was arrested on an active arrest warrant for traffic offenses.
All five individuals were lodged in the Nelson County Jail.
The investigation is ongoing, and police ask individuals with information about this incident to contact Bardstown Police, 348-6811 or Nelson County Dispatch, 348-3211.
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