GRAND HAVEN, MI (WHTC) – There will be no charges filed against an Ottawa County Sheriff’s Deputy stemming from a fatal shooting of a 43-year-old Holland Township man last month.
This stemmed from a November 23rd incident in which first responders were dispatched to an apartment unit off of Beeline Road on a report of a man who had called 911 claiming to have knocked himself out after bumping his head. When they arrived and knocked at the door, David Leroy Thelen Junior emerged, brandishing a 13-inch kitchen knife. Ignoring calls by deputies to drop the weapon, Thelen “aggressively advanced” towards Deputy Joshua Barton, who fired three rounds into the man’s chest at a distance of about 10 feet. Efforts to revive Thelen at the scene failed.
Following a Michigan State Police investigation, which is standard protocol in such a situation involving any local law enforcement officer, County Prosecutor Ron Frantz’ office announced today that Barton had acted in self-defense, based on surveillance camera recordings and accounts from several eyewitnesses that collaborated with what happened at the scene.
