Dancing FBI agent pleads guilty to shooting bar patron, avoids prison
Chase Bishop, the off-duty dancing FBI agent who accidentally shot a bar patron in the leg while performing a dancing back-flip at a bar in Denver last June, appeared in court on December 21 and pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. Bishop’s guilty plea deal has a few bonuses for the FBI agent. The deal takes the more serious charge of second-degree assault, which carries a penalty of up to 16 years in prison, off the table – and keeps Bishop out of jail, according to Fox News.
Also, as part of his plea arrangement, the 30-year-old Bishop was sentenced to two years’ probation and must pay over $1,600 in fines and court costs.
Footage of the shooting on June 2 at Mile High Spirits and Distillery went viral. The video showed Bishop dancing in the middle of a circle before doing a back-flip. During the back-flip, a gun fell onto the ground and discharged as Bishop went to pick it up.
After the shot, Bishop was seen putting it in his waistband holster and walked away while holding his hands up. ~ per The Denver Post
At a November court appearance, Bishop had pleaded guilty to that more serious to second-degree assault, which could have seen him behind bars for up to 16 years. He’ll now be able to serve his two-year probation in Georgia. It’s still up in the air whether Bishop will have future employment with the FBI. The Denver Post quoted FBI spokesperson Kelsey Pietranton as saying, “It is our standard practice not to comment on personnel matters.”
At his December 21 court appearance, Bishop stated that, “My whole goal in life is to care, protect and serve people. I never expected the result of my actions to lead to something like this.” ~ per The Washington Post
The bar patron that Bishop shot was 24-year-old Tom Reddington, who at the time was an Amazon warehouse employee. Reddington has suffered a permanent injury due to that shooting, lost his job at Amazon, experiences chronic pain and is worried that he may never again be able to run. Speaking at Bishop’s court appearance on Friday, Reddington said that he doesn’t harbor any personal grudges against the dancing FBI agent.
“I have done months of physical therapy,” he said. “I have sought counseling. However, being in public, especially seeing law enforcement with guns, makes me very uncomfortable.”
Reddington added that he does not hold a personal grudge against Bishop. “I’ve done stupid things at bars to impress girls, too,” he said. ~ per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
