thedrifter
10-25-05, 06:22 AM
Former Marine uses training to stop assault
This story was published Monday, October 24th, 2005
By Elena Olmstead, Herald staff writer
Pasco High School alumnus Kevin Doncaster may no longer be in the Marines, but it doesn't mean that he is no longer a Marine.
Doncaster, who lives in Atlanta, recently put his Marine training to work, helping capture a man who attacked a woman in a Wal-Mart bathroom in Statesboro, Ga., on Oct. 14.
Doncaster, whose parents Thomas and Alice Doncaster live in West Richland, was driving through Statesboro headed to Savannah for a short vacation. He said he stopped at the local Wal-Mart to buy groceries during his four-hour drive.
While inside the store, he stopped to talk to a manager.
"As I was talking to the manager, I saw this guy. He was spraying (pepper spray at) women and children, and he was running," Doncaster said. The man then turned his pepper spray on Doncaster and the manager.
That's when Doncaster's Marine instincts went into action.
He dropped his groceries and immediately took off after the man, chasing him through the store and out into the parking lot.
"I just figured he was a thief or something," Doncaster said.
When the two got outside, Doncaster said, the man sprayed him again with the pepper spray, which is when Doncaster pulled out his gun.
"I realized he had a Taser, brass knuckles and a big bottle of pepper spray," Doncaster said.
Doncaster held the man at gunpoint until police arrived.
"It was pretty much a standoff," Doncaster said.
Doncaster, who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, said, "The main reason I reacted the way I did was because of my Marine training."
He served four years active duty in the Marines and recently finished four years in the inactive reserve.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he said.
He later learned the man he was chasing had used his Taser on a woman in the Wal-Mart bathroom, where he held her at knifepoint until store employees rushed in and he took off running.
Doncaster said he recently received a phone call from the victim's husband thanking him for helping catch her assailant. Doncaster said he will be making another trip to Statesboro on Friday to visit the woman.
Ellie
This story was published Monday, October 24th, 2005
By Elena Olmstead, Herald staff writer
Pasco High School alumnus Kevin Doncaster may no longer be in the Marines, but it doesn't mean that he is no longer a Marine.
Doncaster, who lives in Atlanta, recently put his Marine training to work, helping capture a man who attacked a woman in a Wal-Mart bathroom in Statesboro, Ga., on Oct. 14.
Doncaster, whose parents Thomas and Alice Doncaster live in West Richland, was driving through Statesboro headed to Savannah for a short vacation. He said he stopped at the local Wal-Mart to buy groceries during his four-hour drive.
While inside the store, he stopped to talk to a manager.
"As I was talking to the manager, I saw this guy. He was spraying (pepper spray at) women and children, and he was running," Doncaster said. The man then turned his pepper spray on Doncaster and the manager.
That's when Doncaster's Marine instincts went into action.
He dropped his groceries and immediately took off after the man, chasing him through the store and out into the parking lot.
"I just figured he was a thief or something," Doncaster said.
When the two got outside, Doncaster said, the man sprayed him again with the pepper spray, which is when Doncaster pulled out his gun.
"I realized he had a Taser, brass knuckles and a big bottle of pepper spray," Doncaster said.
Doncaster held the man at gunpoint until police arrived.
"It was pretty much a standoff," Doncaster said.
Doncaster, who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, said, "The main reason I reacted the way I did was because of my Marine training."
He served four years active duty in the Marines and recently finished four years in the inactive reserve.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he said.
He later learned the man he was chasing had used his Taser on a woman in the Wal-Mart bathroom, where he held her at knifepoint until store employees rushed in and he took off running.
Doncaster said he recently received a phone call from the victim's husband thanking him for helping catch her assailant. Doncaster said he will be making another trip to Statesboro on Friday to visit the woman.
Ellie