A Colfax man who pulled a handgun on a police officer during an arrest in December 2014 has been sentenced to five years in prison following a hearing in Jasper County District Court Monday.
Matthew S. Holett, 24, will serve two years for carrying weapons, two years for assault on a police officers and six months each for two counts of possession of marijuana. Judge Paul R. Huscher did rule Holett’s sentence can later be reduced by half of the maximum sentence for good conduct, work and correction program credits. The defendant may also be eligible for parole.
Dash cam footage obtained by the Jasper County Tribune in January shows Holett pulled a .22 caliber pistol from his waistband during a struggle at 12:36 a.m. on Dec. 13, 2014 in the 10 block of East Howard Street in downtown Colfax. In the footage, Holett appears to try to point the weapon at the officer around his back and between his legs while being detained. Holett began yelling at police after he arrived on scene during the arrest of another man seen in the video urinating on the side of a building. The verbal exchange prompted the confrontation.
The weapon Holett is carrying in the dash cam video is a Phoenix Arms .22 cal. automatic pistol, reported as stolen by the Knoxville Police Department in October 2014.
Police reports indicate law enforcement used a Taser to subdue Holett as he attempted to discard the weapon between the wall of his first-floor apartment and a refrigerator. No firearms were discharged and no one was seriously injured during the incident.
Holett pleaded guilty to the charges during a July 27 hearing in Jasper County District Court.
Contact Mike Mendenhall at
mmendenhall@jaspercountytribune.com