By John Howell Sr.

Batesville police subdued a man who crashed a security gate at Batesville Casket Company about noon Tuesday.

Police Chief Tony Jones said that all on-duty officers responded to the report that a man in a pickup “crashed the gate, drove up into the building and crashed.”

The gate is located on the north side of the factory. He drove the truck to the south side of the factory where he found access via a ramp, Jones said.

Officers “had to Taze him a couple of times to get control of him,” the police chief to city officials at their Tuesday afternoon meeting. “He was a big ole fellow, talking out of his head.”

Jones said that the man carried no identification. His truck bore DeSoto County tags that did not match the vehicle, he said. After he was subdued, he was taken to the Tri-Lakes Medical Center Emergency Room.

By late Tuesday, officers had learned the DeSoto County man’s identity and that he apparently suffered from mental illness that sometimes have resulted in bizarre episodes.

Police charge him with disorderly conduct, and Batesville Casket Company lodged a charge of trespassing, Deputy Police Chief Don Province said. He was released on recognizance bond into the custody of his mother.

The incident, “definitely created some tension,” Province said, coming the day following a shooting spree in the Washington Naval Yard that left 13 people dead.