An apparent domestic incident at the Daniel Boone Festival has landed a Flat Lick resident behind bars while amassing a slew of charges involving the assault of a child and drug possession.
On the evening of Wednesday, October 8, Barbourville Police responded to a complaint of a man exhibiting alleged abusive behavior toward a small child. The complainant reported the man pushing his minor child to the ground and “otherwise being rough with his child,” according to an arrest citation obtained by The Mountain Advocate.
When Barbourville Police Department Officers Henson and Bays arrived, Henson spoke with a witness who identified the man. The witness reported watching the man, Kenny Wagers, push the child to the ground and remain on top of the child, holding him to the ground for an extended period of time. The witness also reported the man allegedly saying he was going to kill the child.
Officers reported the smell of alcohol coming from Wagers when he was approached. Officers also noted he had bloodshot eyes. “The government is shut down, and you have no authority,” Wagers reportedly told the officers.
As officers attempted to move Wagers to a lesser-populated area of the festival to continue their investigation, while walking along North Main Street through the festival crowd, the man allegedly grabbed his child. He attempted to carry him under his right arm, scaring the child. Officers demanded that the man release the child, but he refused to do so, resulting in officers removing the child from the man’s hold and then placing the man in handcuffs due to his erratic behavior. During the arrest, officers instructed Wagers to face a wall and put his hands behind his back, but he refused to do so. He continued to ignore several loud verbal commands, again stating the officers could not do this to him since the government is shut down. It should be noted that while the United States federal government is in a period of shutdown due to budget disagreements, the federal shutdown has no immediate effect on local law enforcement.
Wagers actively pulled his hands away from the officers, but eventually they were able to gain control and place him in custody. Wagers went on to tell officers how he was already dead, and he had died before, and reportedly said he was a “fed” and said they could not arrest a “fed.”
Upon further investigation and a search of Wagers’ person, officers located a small baggie inside his backpack containing a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana and one and a half round green pills labeled 833, believed to be Klonopin, of which Wagers confirmed they were indeed Klonopin, and he informed the officers he had a prescription for the powerful sedative used for seizures and anxiety disorders.
While officers were transporting Wagers to the Knox County Detention Center, he allegedly offered to pay $100 if they would “delete the paperwork” and let him go, while going on to say how he died in a well.
Officers also corroborate the original witness’s complaint with another individual, adding that Wagers allegedly grabbed the child from the ground by his arm, lifting him over his head while yelling profanities at the child. The arrest citation also states that Wagers claimed the child “Beats on me and social services knows it.”
Kenny Wagers was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, second degree; menacing; resisting arrest; terroristic threatening, third degree; assault, fourth degree (child abuse); endangering the welfare of a minor; possession of marijuana; possession of a controlled substance, third degree – drug unspecified; and prescription of a controlled substance not in the proper container, first offense.
He was lodged in the Knox County Detention Center, where he is held on a $2,500 cash bond.
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