By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó Warrants have been drawn to charge a former Spencer mayor in an armed standoff involving law enforcement officers almost two weeks ago.
Alicia Bean will be charged with two counts of felony assault on law enforcement officers with a deadly weapon, said Robert Bennett, Spencer’s chief of police.
He said the warrants can’t be served until Bean is released from medical care. Bennett said last week that Bean, 42, is being treated through LifeWorks, a mental health facility that’s part of Rowan Regional Medical Center.
Bennett said Wednesday that Bean is still undergoing medical care. He said the rifle that Bean carried the day of her backyard standoff wasn’t loaded. But he said officers had no way of knowing that and the fact that it wasn’t loaded has no bearing on charges.
“You point a gun at officers, whether it’s loaded or unloaded, we don’t know that,” Bennett said.
He said Bean will be charged as soon as she is released from the hospital. Bennett said he didn’t know when that will happen.
He said the charges stem from the fact that Bean pointed the rifle at the first two Spencer officers to arrive after she called 911 threatening suicide.
The incident took place at Bean’s house at 218 N. Yadkin Ave. the afternoon of May 15. Bean reportedly called 911 threatening suicide but also threatened to kill any police officers who came to her house.
Officers didn’t get an answer at the front door of the house and encountered Bean holding a rifle when they went to the back of the residence.
Officers described the weapon as an “assault-type rifle” resembling an AR-15 rifle that law enforcement officers carry.
Bean waved the gun in the direction of officers and in the air for 30 minutes or more. The potentially lethal situation came to a peaceful conclusion when officers tackled Bean inside an outbuilding at the back of her yard. Officers have been praised for ending the incident without shots being fired. Responding officers came from the Spencer and East Spencer police departments, as well as the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Officers said a search of the residence by responding officers on the day of the incident revealed the house was empty.
Bennett said he didn’t know what type of sentence a conviction of felony assault on law enforcement officers with a deadly weapon carries.
Bean served as mayor from 2005 to 2007. In addition, she served on the town’s Board of Aldermen from 2001 to 2005. From 2003 to 2005, she served as mayor pro tem, an honor bestowed upon the top vote-getter in the aldermen’s race.