Shelby man pleads ‘no contest’ to assaulting officer.

February 3, 2016
Brett Peoples with his attorney, Timothy Hayes, during a court hearing last month. - OCP file photo

Brett Peoples with his attorney, Timothy Hayes, during a court hearing last month.
– OCP file photo

By Allison Scarbrough. OCP Editor.

HART — The 24-year-old Shelby man who assaulted a Shelby police officer last fall pleaded “no contest” Wednesday morning, Feb. 3, in 27th Circuit Court to one felony count of resisting/opposing/assaulting a police officer causing injury and fourth-offense habitual offender, according to Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon.

Brett Anthony Peoples, of 109 Pine St., was arrested Monday after missing a court appearance, Bizon said.

Peoples’ minimum sentence will be capped at 18 months in prison, and his habitual offender designation elevates his maximum sentence to 15 years incarceration, Bizon said. Two counts of resisting/opposing/assaulting a police officer were dismissed as part of his plea agreement, the prosecutor said.

A Shelby police officer was knocked unconscious in the early morning hours of Oct. 29 outside of the Mercy Health Shelby hospital, according to Oceana County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Craig Mast.

The incident began at Peoples’ home, where police were dispatched to a domestic assault, Mast said. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for ingesting a large amount of prescription medication, according to the lieutenant. As he was being escorted out of the patrol car, the handcuffed Peoples lunged at the Shelby officer and knocked him to the ground, Mast said.