PULASKI COUNTY, Ky – An FBI agent was shot Friday while making an arrest of two Kentucky constables indicted by a federal grand jury. One of the constables was also shot. Both are reportedly in stable condition.
The grand jury indicted Pulaski County constables Michael “Wally” Wallace and Gary E. Baldock on Feb. 27 on one charge alleging civil rights violations.
The charge was sealed until after FBI agents arrested the two early Friday, reported the Lexington Herald Leader.
Both constables are accused of conspiring to violate the civil rights of people through bogus searches and by taking their property without legal cause, a federal grand jury has charged.
Baldock allegedly shot the agent, and agents fired back and wounded Baldock, according to the news organization.
The FBI confirmed at 5:30 p.m. that the agent wounded in the shooting had been released from the hospital and that Baldock was in stable condition.
The FBI did not release Baldock’s name or the name of the agent. However, property records confirm Baldock lives on the street where the shooting occurred near the airport in Somerset.
Wallace was not involved in the shooting, the Lexington Herald Leader reported.
The maximum sentence for a conviction on the charge would be 10 years in prison.
Constables are elected in Kentucky and have full arrest powers.
Wallace has been a constable since first elected in 2006 and has kept a high profile in Pulaski County.
There are dozens of drug cases pending based on arrests he made, and he was considered a potential candidate for sheriff in 2022.
Wallace often posted information about arrests on his Facebook page. In some cases, he put up a sign outside the homes of people he’d arrested saying “This drug house is closed for business” courtesy of the constables.
The federal charge against him could complicate the prosecution of dozens of cases.
