Man allegedly punches, bites deputy

A Cannon County Sheriff's deputy was punched in the face and bitten on a finger during an incident on Jan. 12.

Deputies Mark Sloan and Tonya Holland responded to an address on Taylor Woman Rd. on that date to investigate a report of a man allegedly walking up and down the road firing a gun.

Upon arrival the complainants informed deputies Shane Byford was the person firing the shots. They said one or more of the shots hit their house.

Deputy Sloan observed what appeared to be one or two hits from a shotgun blast high on the residence just above a window, the incident report states.

The deputies were informed Byford was inside a nearby house where his mother lived. He had locked himself inside a bathroom. Deputies were unable to talk Byford out. They forced their way in by breaking down the door.

Byford instantly began to fight, according to the report. Several punches were thrown. Sloan was hit in the face and was bitten on the middle finger of his left hand by Byford.

Eventually Byford was taken into custody. He is facing three counts of reckless endangerment and one count each of resisting arrest and assaulting an officer.

Bond was set at $7,000 and the initial court date was set for Feb. 6.