A man from Florida was captured on police body cam using his infant as a human shield to avoid being arrested by the police in Palm Coast, Flagler County, Florida.
Brandon Matthew Douglas Leohner, 27, was taken into police custody shortly after the incident on September 27, 2022. He faces numerous charges, including using a child as a human shield, child neglect, kidnapping, resisting arrest, and aggravated assault.
The body cam footage released by police shows the horrifying incident where Leohner is holding up the one-year-old on his chest as Flagler County police officers head towards him.
Authorities released a statement saying that the shocking incident started when they responded to a 911 call about the possible kidnapping of a one-year-old baby. The caller alleged that Leohner kidnapped the baby while armed with a firearm and drove off with the child.
The Flagler County Sheriff office reported that after the disturbing 911 call, police officers spotted a man driving recklessly while speeding. An attempt to stop the man by deputies was unsuccessful as he quickly sped away from the scene.
Eventually, Leohner drove to a McDonald’s parking lot and got out of the car holding the child.
The video footage captured him holding the one-year-old baby close to his chest in a defensive way outside the fast-food chain’s drive-thru window as police officers approached him.
One of the officers in the footage was holding a K-9 officer (a dog) that looked ready to pounce.
Despite many orders by the police for him to let go of the baby, Leohner didn’t put the infant down and instead continued to use the child to shield himself.
The video footage shows one of the officers ordering him to get on the ground while the other officer pulls out his taser pointing at the suspect as he continues to use the child, who is in a diaper and a tee-shirt, as a shield. However, after a few minutes of back and forth, police officers managed to neutralize the situation by hitting him with a taser. In the footage, he is seen falling down in front of a car with the infant. The police rushed to the baby’s aid and rescued him from his dad.
The child called out to his father, “da da.”
After being brought to the ground, Leohner continued to resist arrest, and even got up and tried to flee, until the K-9 bit him.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said that the officers responded quickly to save the child from the deranged man, who was eventually arrested. The baby was not injured and was given back to Leohner’s girlfriend, the child’s mother, shortly after being rescued from Leohner.
The Sheriff also said that the domestic violence incident had put the life of an innocent baby and other motorists in danger as his officers tried to resolve the chaotic incident and rescue the child from the man who had no second thoughts about using the child as a human shield.
Leohner was taken to an inmate detention facility after having his injuries examined in the hospital. He will remain in police custody until his hearing.