The Bay County Sheriff’s office arrested a Fountain man on Monday morning after he was reported shooting wildly around a home on Highway 231, and then shot at responding deputies.
At about 3:45 Monday morning, January 19, 2015, a 911 call was placed by the suspect’s ex-wife complaining that her ex-husband Richard Polous was outside her home shooting towards her porch and had also attempted to gain entry to the home.
The deputy responding to the call had dealt with Polous numerous times before and Polous had threatened to shoot him. The deputy called for backup and parked his patrol car along the road to the north of the residence.
As the deputy exited his patrol car, he heard a rapid series of shots. The deputy crossed a ditch and went about 100 yards through the woods to approach the house. Once he could see the front yard of the home, the deputy called out to identify himself as a deputy sheriff and ordered Richard Polous to drop his firearm. Polous responded by firing towards the deputy, hitting a tree about two feet from the deputy at head level.
The deputy could not return gunfire as an occupied residence was directly behind Polous. Several other deputies arrived at the scene and approached the residence, giving loud commands at gunpoint to Polous to drop his weapon and come out of a clump of bushes where he was hiding.
Polous came out from behind the bushes with a gun in his right hand. Deputies again instructed Polous to drop his weapon. Polous raised the gun to about waist level but did not point it at deputies before placing it on the ground. He then lay on the ground and was taken into custody without further incident.
Polous’ ex-wife and her son were located safe within the residence. Polous spoke to the initial responding deputy and stated “I knew it was you, Deputy. That’s why I shot into the woods.”
Polous, age 75, of 19735 Highway 231, Fountain, was charged with Aggravated Assault on a LEO, Improper Exhibition of a Firearm, and Discharging a Firearm in Public Place.