Houston man convicted of assaulting, threatening federal agents at Fort Leonard Wood

Houston, Missouri. – On June 10, 2024, a Houston, Missouri man pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting a federal officer and one count of threatening to murder a law enforcement officer .

James W. Dickens, 32, drove a stolen vehicle to the north entrance of Fort Leonard Wood on June 11, 2023. There, he made several statements to personnel at the entrance while acting erratically, going even showing them an ax he had sitting in the passenger seat. Dickens then fled the gate and, after a high-speed chase, crashed the vehicle he was driving into the north gate’s drop arm barrier. He began shouting and swearing at the police officers surrounding the vehicle. During the trial, Dickens admitted to threatening an officer who drew his Taser: “If you taser me, I will kill you.” » He then charged the police officer, which led him to taser him.

After putting Dickens into the military police vehicle, he continued to shout, threaten and swear at the officers. According to his plea agreement, he kicked a police officer in the right leg and head-butted another officer in the left cheekbone, all while shouting, “I’m going to kill you!” He then spat in the faces of several police officers as they put him into a paramedic’s vehicle.

Under federal law, Dickens faces a possible sentence of up to 18 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled following the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Clark and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Cesar Vargas. The case was investigated by the U.S. Army, Fort Leonard Wood and military police.

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