Heslet

Armed with an arrest warrant and information that a Michigan man meant to commit “suicide by cop” and take officers with him, members of the Denton County Sheriff’s Office patrol, narcotics unit and SWAT teams took him into custody Thursday without any injuries.

Gary Lee Heslet, 48, is being held in county jail on a Michigan charge of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon. State and federal weapons charges are pending.

Sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Wawro said Friday that Heslet fled Michigan instead of reporting for the pending felony case. The sheriff’s office received information that Heslet was staying in the Oak Point area with relatives and traveled between that house and the home of another relative in Carrollton.

He had allegedly threatened relatives and the police. Wawro said Heslet was known to abuse illegal drugs and prescription drugs, causing him to be extremely paranoid.

“We had information that he carried two to three weapons on his person at all times and that he had access to more guns,” Wawro said. “He had made threats that he wanted to force police to kill him and that he would take as many with him as he could.”

Sheriff’s deputies placed Heslet under surveillance at the Oak Point home. They followed him Thursday afternoon to a supermarket in Carrollton. As he exited the store, officers were waiting to seize him, and they took him into custody with no one being injured, Wawro said.

Trying to take him at the house was risky, the captain said. It could have turned into a standoff situation with his access to numerous weapons. Officers were in control in the parking lot where they surrounded and arrested him.

“We made sure we had him in a place where all the advantages would be for us. We took away all his advantages,” Wawro said.

The deputies found a .45-caliber Kimber semiautomatic pistol in a holster in the small of his back, an extra loaded magazine in his front pants pocket and a .357-caliber derringer in a jacket pocket. They found a .357-caliber Magnum revolver and extra ammunition in his 1968 supercharged Camaro. They also found marijuana and prescription medications.

After obtaining a search warrant for the room he was occupying, they found a shotgun, Wawro said.

Heslet is being held without bail on the Michigan charge, and state and federal charges are pending, the captain said.

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com.