A man who was shot by police after a nearly seven-hour standoff in December 2020 was sentenced to 20 months in the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Dillon James Gard, 30, of Nashville, Indiana, and formerly of Crawfordsville, learned his fate Wednesday when Montgomery Superior Court Judge Heather Barajas issued his sentencing order.
Per a plea agreement, Gard pleaded guilty to one count of domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and one count of criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, both Level 6 felonies. A third charge of strangulation, a Level 6 felony, was dismissed.
The charges stem from Gard’s behavior towards his ex-wife who he was sharing a home with and a subsequent encounter with law enforcement on Dec. 7, 2020. Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office initially responded to a report of a domestic battery at the Gard residence on State Road 47 around 2:15 p.m.
After officers removed the woman from the residence, Gard barricaded himself inside the home with a firearm. Officers set up a perimeter around the residence, and the Montgomery County Multi-Jurisdiction SWAT Team responded to the scene. After SWAT arrived, Gard fired multiple shots from inside the home toward a drone that had been deployed by police as well as in the direction of officers. The Indiana State Police SWAT Team and Hostage Negotiation Team then responded to the scene.
Around 8:30 p.m., Gard came to a window with a firearm and pointed it at officers. An officer from the Montgomery County Multi-Jurisdiction SWAT Team fired his weapon, striking Gard. In court, Gard said he was shot in the chest, which caused a collapsed lung and extensive nerve damage to his arm. He was hospitalized for 22 days in Indianapolis and had to relearn how to use his arm. Gard said he endures daily, chronic pain that will likely last his entire life. His recovery is ongoing.
Gard told the court he does not remember much from the incident. He knows he got into an argument with his ex-wife that escalated. He claimed they argued because he had not gone to work that day and he had been drinking.
“I honestly only have snippets of that night,” Gard said.
Gard said he remembers his ex-wife putting herself between him and the gun safe, and that is when he battered her repeatedly on the face and head.
Gard’s attorney Bradley Banks of Indianapolis told the court Gard was suffering from mental health issues at the time, and may have been suicidal at that point. The former Marine who was honorably discharged said he was struggling to adjust to civilian life.
“It’s been really difficult to find my place in society,” Gard said.
In handing down the sentence, Barajas noted Gard’s previous criminal record, which included a domestic battery charge in 2015 in Vigo County, an operating a vehicle while intoxicated charge in 2018 in Montgomery County and a domestic battery charge in 2019 in Montgomery County that was reduced to disorderly conduct.
“This was the third battery charge against the same victim,” Barrajas noted.
Gard completed probation in March of 2020 on the disorderly conduct charge, but by year’s end found himself in trouble again.
During sentencing, Barrajas noted and thanked Gard for his service, but was concerned with the escalation of violence toward the same victim. She also cited the use of a deadly weapon and his actions toward law enforcement officers.
“It’s not OK and the court takes that seriously,” she said.
Banks tried unsuccessfully to have his client’s sentence served on home detention in Nashville with his parents. He said Gard’s extensive arm injury from being shot by police and his ongoing medical care and appointments would be burdensome to the county jail, where Gard is expected to be housed instead of in a DOC facility. His 20-month sentence includes time served, court costs of $185 and $150 in fines.
In delivering the sentence, Barajas said she could not overlook that Gard brought his injuries on himself and put a lot of people in harm’s way that day.
