LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) --Â A man who pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a University of Kentucky football player in 1994 is facing legal problems again after he allegedly assaulted a friend of an elderly relative.Â
Shane Ragland, 50, is charged with assault and terroristic threatening after the alleged incident in Franklin County last Saturday, June 15. Court documents indicate he forced an elderly relative to leave her home on Bridgeport Benson Road, so she called a friend and asked for help to get back inside the home to retrieve her keys.Â
The woman who tried to help the relative told Franklin County sheriff's deputies that she entered the home and was assaulted by Ragland, who allegedly "ran over her legs with a motorized wheelchair as well as hit her with his arms and hands." Police said the woman had bruises on her body consistent with her statements.Â
The woman said Ragland also threatened to kill her if she didn't leave, telling her "if he could get ahold of his Colt .45, he would shoot her in the head."
An officer listened to a recording the woman made of Ragland making that statement. He was arrested June 18 and taken to the Franklin County Regional Jail.Â
Ragland was convicted of shooting and killing UK football player Trent DiGiuro in 1994 and sentenced to 30 years. His conviction was overturned in 2002 after it was discovered that an FBI investigator was not truthful during a pretrial conference.
Ragland later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to time served, plus three days.
Ragland has been using a motorized wheelchair since he crashed his SUV in Louisville in 2012, leaving him with a spinal cord injury. Police said Ragland was driving a Dodge Durango north on the Gene Snyder Freeway, just before the ramp to Interstate 64 eastbound when he hit a snowbank and lost control, hit a guardrail and flipping the SUV.Â
Ragland was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle.Â
Saturday's alleged incident was not the first time Ragland was accused of trying to run people over in his wheelchair. About a year later, in 2014, he was charged in another domestic incident involving his girlfriend who was also serving as his caregiver. The woman, who lived with Ragland with her four children, claimed Ragland hit her with a metal rod and punched her in the face.Â
"He then tried to hit me with a metal rod from the shelf," she said in court documents. "He got me into a headlock and head butted me in the head. He is constantly trying to run me over with a 3,000 pound electric wheelchair. He threatens to kill me and says he will eventually kill me."
During a subsequent court appearance, she asked prosecutors to drop the charges and made the following statement.Â
"I also love Shane," she said. "It's been a very difficult transition for Shane to be in a wheelchair."
Ragland is now charged with two counts of assault and two counts of terroristic threatening. He was scheduled to appear in Franklin County court June 20. His bond was set at $2,000 full cash.Â
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- Charity reverses decision to donate wheelchair to convicted killer Shane Ragland
- Alleged domestic violence victim wants to move back in with Shane Ragland
- Shane Ragland injured in Saturday afternoon crash
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