“Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms special agent Marc Delpit, father of a St. Thomas High School football player, allegedly got into an argument with a fellow team father during halftime in a recent game against Angleton High School,” eagnews.com reports. “Several witnesses allege Delpit punched the man to the ground and continued to assault him as bystanders gathered and attempted to intervene. Houston Police spokesman Kese Smith said Delpit pulled out a pistol and waved it at the crowd before police arrived.” Agent Delpit was unrepentant . . .
From khou.com:
According to Houston police, Delpit claimed he thought he was going to be attacked by the other father and was defending himself. Delpit also said he felt threatened by the parking lot crowd and brandished a weapon to keep people at bay, according to spokesman Smith.
So Delpit beats on a football dad, a crowd tries to intervene and Delpit whips out his gun to defend himself. Because the crowd posed a lethal threat. Allegedly.
“ATF takes these allegations very seriously,” said Senior Special Agent Nicole Strong with the Houston Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol Firearms and Explosives.
“Pending the outcome of the investigation, the agent in question has been placed on administrative leave with pay and has been relieved of his firearms, badge and credentials,” Special Agent Strong said.
Tobacco! They forgot tobacco! And Really Big Fires!
Delpit is up on an aggravated assault charge; the prosecutor seems to have forgotten that Texas has a Deadly Conduct law. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 22.05 goes a little something like this [via criminaldefenselawyer.com]:
Using weapons in a dangerous, threatening, or reckless manner is a crime. In Texas, the reckless use of a weapon is known as “deadly conduct” and can be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony offense, depending on the circumstances . . .
You can commit a deadly conduct offense in Texas whenever you engage in any type of conduct that you know, or should know, will place someone else at risk of suffering serious bodily injury. For example, if you point a gun at someone else, you can be charged with deadly conduct even if you never fire the weapon or never intend to fire it. It’s enough that you intentionally brandish the weapon and know, or should know, that such an act poses a danger to someone else.
Anyway, it’s good to know that TTAG’s Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day will remain on the taxpayer payroll. Methinks Delpit will need some cash to defend himself in a civil lawsuit. Wait. Does the ATFE have a union to defend him? One can only hope. [h/t andypantera69]