Campground robbery, assault suspect paralyzed in skydiving accident
Matt Elofson Crime and courts reporter dothaneagle.com
Dothan, AL
A Dothan man with pending federal and state charges in connection to an assault and robbery at a local campground was recently seriously injured in a skydiving accident.
Judson Walton Buchanan, 21, was injured in the accident last month near Blountstown, Fla., according to Buchanan’s lawyer, Shaun McGhee.
“After over 100 successful jumps Judson was involved in a parachuting accident on Oct. 18, at which time he landed too hard, resulting a spinal cord injury,” McGhee said in a statement to the Dothan Eagle.
McGhee said Buchanan is currently going through inpatient rehabilitation with a diagnosis of paraplegia. He declined to say exactly what that meant for his client, but according to the website at themedicaldictionary.com, someone diagnosed with paraplegia suffers from a condition in which the lower part of a patient’s body is paralyzed.
“He is improving daily and he and his family are fully engaged in the rehabilitation process in hopes of a full recovery,” McGhee said in the statement.
McGhee said his client will be in inpatient rehabilitation until late December and then will move on to outpatient rehab at home for an undetermined amount of time.
Buchanan remains scheduled for sentencing in late January 2016 on two felony charges in federal court. Buchanan and 23-year-old Mason Cole Battles both pleaded guilty last month to federal felony robbery and assault charges in connection to injuries an area teacher suffered at a Henry County campground last summer.
The two friends pleaded guilty to their roles in a late-night attempted theft of a boat trailer by using a golf cart, which resulted in local teacher Kelli Whitehurst being seriously injured. Whitehurst was run over by the golf cart as she attempted to stop the theft.
The offenses occurred at the Hardridge Creek Campground, which is on federal property, on June 8, 2014.
Investigators with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office arrested Battles and Buchanan on June 9, 2014. Both Buchanan and Battles also face local felony first-degree assault and felony first-degree armed robbery charges, but McGhee said those cases have been delayed with no court date set.