Saturday, December 12, 2009

Former Officer Thomas Rush Jr Charged with Resisting Arrest

A traffic stop Thursday afternoon in Bonita Springs resulted in the arrest of three family members – one of whom is a former law enforcement officer from New Jersey.

Thomas Rush Jr., 65, a former New Jersey law enforcement officer; his wife, Donna Rush, 48; and son, Raymond Rush, 18, whose addresses were not released but live in South Lee County, were each charged with resisting a law enforcement officer without violence. They posted $1,000 bond and were released early Friday from Lee County Jail.

According to arrest reports:

Michael Rush, 20, was stopped by Lee deputies for an undisclosed reason and began using his cell phone to call family members.

Raymond Rush, driving a Ford Freestar minivan, arrived and asked why his brother was stopped. The deputies told him to leave, and he did, but he returned with their mother, Donna Rush, who was Tasered twice by deputies.

Thomas Rush, the boys’ father, arrived in a Mustang, parked his vehicle in a nearby parking lot and went toward deputies, even though he was told to stay away.

Thomas Rush told deputies: “He is not (expletive) going anywhere and he did not have to leave.” He armed himself with a black walking cane and refused to leave. He was arrested after a struggle.

Raymond Rush then returned with his mother, who began yelling expletives at the deputies, including: “get off my (expletive) husband.” She was told to leave, refused and a deputy deployed his Taser, but only one prong stuck.

She ran to one of the vehicles and jumped in, wrapping her arm around the steering wheel and locked her leg against the door. She was Tasered a second time, again unsuccessfully. After a struggle she was taken from the vehicle and arrested, as was her youngest son.

It was unclear whether Michael Rush received a traffic citation, but he was not arrested.

The parents were taken to Gulf Coast Hospital after complaining of injuries. They were treated and later released to be booked into jail.

A deputy received a cut under his eye during one of the struggles.

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