A Clark County man who said he was following the vice president’s advice when he fired a gun to scare away alleged car prowlers was sentenced to jail time Tuesday in Clark County District Court.
Judge John Hagensen sentenced Jeffrey Barton, 53, to a week in the Clark County Jail and fined him $500 for obstructing a law enforcement officer. Barton made headlines around the globe after telling a reporter, “I did what Joe Biden told me to do. I went outside and fired my shotgun in the air.”
That happened around 3 a.m. July 15, 2013, after a neighbor told Barton that people were rifling through the vehicles parked in his driveway in the 5800 block of Northeast 124th Street in the Barberton area. Barton chased the alleged prowlers, punched one of them in the face and fired three rounds from his shotgun, according to accounts of the event.
Barton’s statement to reporters was a reference to the vice president’s answer to a question earlier in the year about home defense. Biden said Americans don’t need to own semiautomatic weapons, because a couple of blasts from a shotgun will scare off intruders.
Barton had been charged with illegally discharging a firearm, a misdemeanor, but prosecutors dismissed the weapons charge in August and charged Barton with obstructing a police officer. A six-member jury found Barton guilty of that charge on March 13.
What unfolded when deputies arrived on July 15, 2013, was chaotic and confusing. Neighbors were throwing a party, and witnesses said 50 to 60 cars were parked along nearby streets.
Deputies testified in Barton’s trial that the fact shots were reportedly fired created a high-risk situation. Deputies Tom Yoder and Rob Ternus arrived to find several vehicles and people inside and outside the vehicles, and commanded everyone to show their hands. Yoder testified that Barton, who was walking toward them, wouldn’t sit on the ground and was reaching behind his back.
During testimony, Barton said that he was reaching for his wallet in his back pocket. He walked toward police, but when he heard deputies yell “hands, hands, hands,” he dropped the flashlight he was holding and put his hands up, Barton said.
Barton’s attorney, Jesse Corkern, said when Barton saw that police had arrived to a 911 call initiated by his family, he received “not a polite greeting from law enforcement.”
“They were aggressive, loud and vulgar at times,” he said. Corkern said Barton never did anything aggressive toward law enforcement.
Barton has the right to appeal the court’s decision. After the sentencing, he was taken to the jail, where he had credit for one day already served.
