Jan 25, 2019

Noble, OK – An armed robbery suspect pulled a handgun on a Noble police officer just before the officer shot him three times, video footage showed.

The incident occurred on Dec. 18, 2018, after Noble Police Officer Joshua Lesher spotted a man riding a motorcycle with a passenger who appeared to be underage, The Norman Transcript reported.

The passenger was not wearing any protective gear, so Officer Lesher initiated a traffic stop in the 400-block of North Second Street.

He then made contact with the rider, 38-year-old Layland Ted Lewis, who gave the officer a false name of Carl Huff, according to court documents.

Officer Lesher was unable to verify Lewis’ alias name and date of birth through dispatch, and was planning to detain him, when Lewis slipped a handgun out of his pocket and pointed it at the officer’s face.

Officer Lesher immediately deflected the weapon by knocking the suspect’s hand to the side, while he simultaneously drew his duty weapon and fired three rounds, the video showed.

“Shots fired! Shots fired!” the officer alerted over his radio repeatedly.

Lewis was rushed to Norman Regional Hospital, and was later transported to the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City, The Norman Transcript reported.

He was treated for his gunshot wounds and released to police, and has since been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Officer Lesher was uninjured during the altercation.

Investigators also learned that Lewis was the subject of a $100,000 bench warrant out of Cleveland County at the time of the shooting, which was issued after he failed to appear on a felony armed robbery charge.

Lewis later told investigators that Officer Lesher shot him after he simply opened up his jacket to show the officer he had a firearm.

Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn has since cleared Officer Lesher of any criminal wrongdoing for shooting Lewis, KOCO reported.

You can watch dashcam and bodycam footage of the officer’s encounter with Lewis in the video below.