Deputy is cleared in shooting

A Dodge County deputy who shot a man last week who was trying to hit an officer with a hammer is back on duty, cleared of any wrongdoing.

Deputy Craig Harbaugh, 36, returned to his regular evening shift Wednesday. He had been on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.

The investigation was completed with a meeting of the Deadly Force Review Board. That board consists of Chief Deputy Bob Reynolds, a certified firearms instructor, two deputies of the same rank as the one in question and a citizen, said Dodge County Sheriff Steve Hespen.

“I will receive a written report. The preliminary report is that Deputy Harbaugh's discharge of his firearm was within department policy,” Hespen said.

He said according to department policy, “A deputy can use deadly force to protect himself or others from what he reasonably believes to be an immediate threat of death or bodily harm.”

Hespen said the review board determined attacking an officer with a hammer fell within that policy.

“These decisions are obviously split-second decisions,” he said. “Those are based on training through the years to make those decisions.”

Harbaugh responded

July 10 with Fremont Police to a call of a suicidal man in his home in the 1500 block of N. Main Street. Hespen has said Stuart R. Sack, 54, was on the porch with a hammer and refused orders to put it down and instead attacked a Fremont officer with the hammer. Sack was shot with a Taser that did not work before Harbaugh shot him with his service pistol in the right wrist and thigh. After being shot, he continued to come at officers and a second Taser shot was required to subdue him.

“We're glad that Deputy Harbaugh is able to return to duty,” Hespen said. “We're sure he'll continue to do a good job for the county and its citizens.”

No charges have been filed yet against Sack.