A man who grabbed a sheriff’s deputy’s stun gun in the Clark County Jail during an ill-conceived escape attempt in January 2018 will spend more time behind bars than he would have otherwise due to the incident.
Ricky I. Younger, 35, was sentenced Thursday in Clark County Superior Court to 37 months, or a little more than three years, in prison.
Judge Scott Collier said the imposed sentence was appropriate under the goals of the state’s sentencing system and given the work of the attorneys, and Younger’s desire to resolve the case.
Younger apologized for his actions.
“I didn’t intend to hurt anyone. I was acting impulsively. I just want the officers to know I’m sorry. I never acted this way,” he said.
“I’ve struggled with drugs,” he added, alluding to the fact that he was detoxing from heroin, benzodiazepines and alcohol at the time of the incident.
Younger pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree robbery, disarming a corrections officer, five counts of third-degree assault and attempted second-degree escape.
He no prior felony convictions, just misdemeanors. He was in jail for a pending case for possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Jail surveillance footage that captured the incident shows Younger get up from a bench in the booking area about 8:40 p.m. Jan. 19, glance at Deputy Brenda Bullard’s equipment and then lunge at Bullard, pushing her in the chest. The two briefly struggled over a stun gun that Younger grabbed, but he disarmed the deputy as she fell back into the booking room. The stun gun discharged during the scuffle at Bullard and two other deputies in the booking room, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Younger pointed the stun gun at the deputies in the booking room. A fourth deputy outside the booking cage drew his stun gun, and Younger pointed the stolen stun gun at him and ran, the affidavit states.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said Younger ran “around the jail for a fairly significant amount of time.” The prosecutor said Younger refused to surrender until he was backed into a corner.
“He made a bad choice … He compounded his problem by continuing to place himself in harm’s way. Luckily, no one was hurt,” Smith said.
