Man arrested after assault on deputies

FRED – Tyler County Sheriff Bryan Weatherford reported that a man was arrested last week in the Fred area after an attempted assault on sheriff’s deputies.

Weatherford said that deputies with the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office were patrolling in the area on Monday, June 10, at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, when they were dispatched to a reported criminal trespassing incident.

When deputies arrived on the scene, where the alleged incident had taken place, they were shown home security footage of a White male reaching over posts marked with purple paint, to indicate no trespassing, and tampering with a game camera. While they were still on the scene, the subject in the footage, identified as Daniel Wayne Crafton, a 50-year-old Silsbee man, walked out and began to cause a disturbance with the complainant, according to Weatherford.

“As deputies attempted to detain Crafton, he began backing away from them while disobeying commands,” Weatherford said. The suspect elevated his conduct to verbally threaten the lawmen, and then ran to an adjacent residence.

He physically resisted arrest when deputies caught up with him, and as they attempted to handcuff him, he grabbed a knife and began to fight with the deputies, with the blade exposed, and attempted to stab one of them.

Deputies were able to apprehend Crafton and remove the knife from his hand. He was taken to the ground and placed into the cuffs.

Crafton was booked into the Tyler County Jail and charged with felony aggravated assault on a public servant; resisting arrest; evading arrest and criminal trespass. Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Tina Self set his bond at $320,000. Records show he was transferred to the Polk County Jail on June 14.