Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jester tells his side of assault story

Russell Lee "Rusty" Jester's account of an incident that apparently occurred at Whelen Springs on May 22 differs from that of the victims.

Jester has been charged with robbery and burglary in Clark County Circuit Court for his part in the incident, but in his statement, Jester claims that he didn't take anything and is not guilty as accused.

The statement was taken by Wes Sossamon with the Clark County Sheriff's Criminal Investigation Division on June 15. The interview between Sossamon and Jester was taped and a transcript of that tape is now included in the court file.

The statement opens with Jester identifying himself and agreeing to make a statement without benefit of an attorney.

According to Jester's statement, he was at a camp at Whelen Springs on the morning the incident occurred, visiting with friends at the camp. He said he was told that members of the camp had just voted a Hot Springs couple out of the camp. He said a couple in a Jeep pulled into the camp and began videotaping.

"Us, standing there looking at them is what they were videoing," Jester stated in the court record. "I said, No, I don't have anything to do with this.' So I got on my four-wheeler and ..." left. "And I didn't make it far, and here comes this guy on the right side of the road, in the ditch, with his wife and a gun ..."

Jester said the man yelled an obscenity, "swerved and spun gravel on me." According to Jester, he was upset over the incident and told his wife he was going to confront the man, but his wife talked him out of it.

The couple had planned to meet friends at the river that day and Jester said they went as planned. Among those friends was Chip Threadgil of Hot Springs, who is also charged in the incident.

Jester said he and his family had returned home and were watching television when a man who lives in the area arrived at Jester's house. Jester said the man informed him that Threadgil had been threatened with a gun by the same couple that had run Jester off the road earlier.

Jester said he got in the man's vehicle, a white S10 pickup, and "we made it not very far at all, and we met this guy and we almost had a head on collision." Threadgil, according to Jester's report, was following the couple on a four-wheeler.

Jester said he was not driving, but was in the back of the S10 when they passed the Hot Springs couple.

The Hot Springs man pulled into a driveway and went to the door of the house. Statements by the resident of that house are also included in the court records. The man who had gone to Jester's house and picked him up, ran toward the Hot Springs man, the door came open and both men entered "and they were swinging," Jester stated.

"Almost immediately," the local man began calling "help Rusty, he's got a gun," according to Jester's statement.

Jester said he then hit the Hot Springs man "about three times. And then I kicked him." He stated that the man no longer had the gun, but that he wasn't sure what happened to it.

Jester said the local man then said that the Hot Springs woman had a camera, "And when I turned around, there's a woman with a video camera. ... And I grabbed the camera and me and her, we start wrestling over it. We wrestled plumb out of the kitchen. ... I never hit her."

Jester said that the woman had the keys to the local man's truck and "we wrestled over that, and I got the keys. And then she had a pistol. She pointed a pistol." Jester said he got back into the truck he had arrived in and got it started. The local man ran across the yard "and I took the camera and threw it in the yard."

Under questioning by Sossamon, Jester stated that he didn't know why he grabbed the camera. "There was just so much ... going on. I mean a gun, and I just hit this guy. I don't go around beating people up every day. And she, she had the camera filming and I bet that it, it's on there, the fight part. And (the local man) said something like, watch the camera or get the camera or something like that. When I turned around, there's a camera right in my face. And once I grabbed a hold of it, she started wrestling with me."

Sossamon again asked Jester why he tried to take the camera.

Jester said it was a "crazy afternoon."

"I know that the strap got tangled up on both of us there at one time. And that woman in all, in her heart she know, what I said to her. When I did end up with the camera, I took off running from her and I like, laughed. I said, You can't catch me.' I was like, wanting to quit. And I even told her, one time she hit me like a couple of times in the head, and it didn't even hurt. You know, it was like swatting. And I said, Just quit it. Just quit. Quit.' I didn't want it. I threw the camera out there."

Jester said the next day, he picked up a man from the neighborhood, pointed out the camera and the man turned the camera in.

According to the victim's statements, they were videotaping evidence of trespassing when the incident began. They claim that Jester and Threadgil chased them and that the victim pulled the gun from his pocket after he began to fear for his life.

The resident of the house where the fight allegedly occurred is identified as a witness. The witness said Jester identified himself when he entered the house. The witness said Jester "then he proceeded to take the camera away from the lady. And they went outside ... I did not see what happened outside. Cause I stayed in the house."

The witness stated that a pickup left the premises. "And when the pickup left, the second gentleman started talking to the first man that came through the door and said, If you won't fight, I'll let you up.' And they talked a little bit and they agreed that they wouldn't fight. And they even shook hands."

The case was on the docket call for July, but was continued until August.