Off - duty DAF deters crime

Published May 13, 2011
By Krista Starker
Hilltop Times correspondent

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- An off-duty Department of the Air Force (DAF) police officer may have stopped a bad situation from becoming worse.

Clearfield Police were dispatched at 9:39 p.m., April 12, to a family fight in the parking lot of a Maverik convenience store at 1015 E. 700 South, said Assistant Police Chief Mike Stenquist.

Kenneth Odell Floyd, 43, who had just been released from jail after serving two years for drug possession and escape from official custody, decided to meet up with his ex-girlfriend at the convenience store.

"Fearing for her safety she decided to bring her 18- year- old son and some friends with her. Having them there aggravated Floyd and that's when he pulled out a knife," said Stenquist.

That's when Floyd grabbed the woman, holding a knife to her throat. Her son ran up to try to assist his mother when Floyd pushed the knife against his chest, pushing him away.

It was during this that off-duty DAF police officer, Steve Batten, was walking out of the convenience store and ran to his vehicle to grab his baton and handcuffs. Batten identified himself and confronted Floyd to stop, said Stenquist.

Floyd let go and fled the scene but was later located several blocks away and taken into custody.