‘Super dangerous.’ Mom of man who threatened Columbus Walmart customers speaks in court
The mother of a knife-wielding man who threatened customers Saturday at a north Columbus Walmart said her homeless son has a severe mental illness and needs long-term care.
“He don’t want to take medicine,” Jilda Segura told Judge Robert Wadkins Sr. on Monday in Columbus Recorder’s Court, where her son Leo Ricardo Segura, 23, faced 13 charges.
She said her son has been in and out of jail repeatedly, because of his condition, and would be better off if he stayed there.
He likely will stay there this time because Wadkins refused to set bonds that would allow Segura’s release, and sent the case on to Muscogee Superior Court.
According to testimony from police Cpl. Jake Siter, officers rushed to the 5448 Whittlesey Blvd. store around 4 p.m. on reports of a man waving a knife at customers inside, among them a mother with two daughters ages 8 and 6.
The mother and her children were shielded by a loss-prevention officer who got between Segura and the family, before the woman took her daughters into a store office and locked the door, Siter said.
Meanwhile other customers, including two who were armed with guns, chased Segura out of the store and into the parking lot, Siter said.
On the way out, the suspect swiped the knife at a customer pushing a shopping cart into the store, Siter said. Out in the parking lot, Segura started shouting and cursing at a man with two small children, the officer testified.
As police moved in, Segura fled from the parking lot, running across Whittlesey Boulevard to the rear of a Olive Garden Restaurant, where he was confronted by Officer Amanda Cobb, who had her gun drawn, Siter said.
Segura then tossed the knife behind a car and surrendered, Siter testified. But he soon caused more trouble when he tried to kick out the window of Cobb’s patrol car. He kicked Cobb in the face and chest as she tried to subdue him, and bit and spit on a second officer who came to Cobb’s aid, Siter said.
Siter told Wadkins one of Segura’s six aggravated assault charges had to be dismissed, because investigators lost touch with the victim, who left the scene before they could interview her.
That left Segura facing five assault charges, two felony counts of obstructing police and one each of making terroristic threats, using a knife to commit a crime, theft by shoplifting for taking the knife from the store, reckless conduct and disorderly conduct. None of those charges were dismissed.
The mother
When Wadkins asked about Segura’s mental health, his mother testified that he has schizoaffective disorder. The illness can cause hallucinations and manic behavior.
Siter told the judge witnesses reported that Segura had been seen sleeping in a black Cadillac in the Walmart parking lot, accompanied by another man.
Wadkins ordered the jail to conduct a psychological evaluation on Segura, whose public defender, William Biddy, told the judge Segura recently had been through mental health court, which is designed to get sick people out of jail and into treatment.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Segura’s mother said she has tried to get him into a long-term treatment facility, but she can’t afford to pay for private care: “I’m a single parent. I don’t have the tools for help for him.”
Finding publicly financed long-term care is difficult: “Everything is full,” she added. Plus her son’s an adult who can’t be forced to go into treatment if he doesn’t want to, she said.
Likewise, she can’t force him to take his prescribed medication, an issue many families have with sick relatives, she said: “Too many kids and too many adult people don’t want to take medicine.”
She fears what will happen next if her son continues to bounce in and out of jail, living on the street.
“He really needs help with the addiction and the mental problems,” she said, adding, “I know he is super dangerous…. Right now, it’s the knife. Maybe later it’s one gun.”