Shane Jason Woods, 45, was the first person charged with assaulting a member of the news media during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Woods, of Auburn, Illinois, took a running start and tackled the Reuters cameraman “like an NFL linebacker hunting a quarterback after an interception,” federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Woods also attacked and injured a Capitol police officer who was 100 pounds (45 kilograms) lighter than him, according to prosecutors. He blindsided the officer, knocking her off her feet and into a metal barricade. The next day, the officer was still in pain and said she felt as if she had been “hit by a truck,” prosecutors said.

Woods, who ran an HVAC repair business, was arrested in June 2021 and pleaded guilty to assault charges in September 2022.

He also has been charged in Illinois with first-degree murder in the death of a woman killed in a wrong-way car collision on Nov. 8, 2022.

While free on bond conditions for the Jan. 6 case, Woods was pulled over for speeding but drove off and fled from law enforcement. Woods was drunk and driving in the wrong direction down a highway in Springfield, Illinois, when his pickup truck slammed into a car driven by 35-year-old Lauren Wegner, authorities said. Wegner was killed, and two other people were injured in the crash.

Woods was injured in the crash and was taken to a hospital, where a police officer overheard him saying that he had intentionally driven the wrong way on the highway and had been trying to crash into a semi-trailer truck, according to federal prosecutors. He remains jailed in Sangamon County, Illinois, while awaiting a trial scheduled to start in January, according to online court records.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    56
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    While free on bond conditions for the Jan. 6 case, Woods was pulled over for speeding but drove off and fled from law enforcement. Woods was drunk and driving in the wrong direction down a highway in Springfield, Illinois, when his pickup truck slammed into a car driven by 35-year-old Lauren Wegner, authorities said. Wegner was killed, and two other people were injured in the crash

    The best people.

    • acceptable_pumpkin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      34
      ·
      1 year ago

      This is why he should have been in jail. Violent crimes (like trying to overthrow the government) should never be eligible for bond/bail.

        • LemmysMum@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          If something as simple as considering public video evidence of the direct action can’t be used to determine bail then why have a bail system in the first place.

    • meco03211@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      1 year ago

      Guaranteed he’s one of the shits that goes on social media to bitch about the “catch and release” of other criminals.

      • beebarfbadger@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        What, now you can’t even assault people tackle people into the wall kill people in a drunken car chase do harmless outside activities anymore? I thought this was America! Political correctness has truly gone too far!

  • Sparky_@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    So he pleaded guilty in September and then he killed a person in a collision in November? Why was he out? This justice system is garbage.

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    The one thing I miss about reddit is the sub full of these updates. Put the schadenfreude right in my veins!

  • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    “like an NFL linebacker hunting a quarterback after an interception,”

    I guess federal prosecutors don’t know how American football works

    • logicbomb@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      If a quarterback throws an interception, the other team has possession, and the linebackers are expected to block for the runner. Meanwhile, the quarterback, along with the rest of his team, are technically supposed to be trying to stop the runner. Thus, the quarterback may be a valid target for a linebacker to “block”.

      The quarterback is often distracted right after throwing an interception, so if a linebacker “blocks” him, it often really just amounts to a blindside. A free, intentionally unsporting, very hard, hit on the one person who is central to their offense, and who is normally better protected from large impacts.

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        You can’t tackle a defender which is what the QB becomes when there is a turnover. I realize now that the AP, not the federal prosecutors, characterized it as a tackle rather than a hard block

        • spacecowboy
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          You’re arguing semantics. People who know football understand it regardless.

  • mateomaui@reddthat.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    highway and had been trying to crash into a semi-trailer truck

    so… he was trying to commit suicide?