Chapter 2: Sheriff Bull Stanton

Bull---Now is as good of time as any to introduce myself. My real name is Richard Stanton, but everyone calls me Bull. I got that nickname about the time I entered high school. I was big for my age. I was 6’ 3” tall and weighed over 200 lbs. by the time I was 14. Today I stand 6’ 5” in my work boots and weigh in at around 245. The name ‘Bull’ has stuck for my entire life.

I knew Jimbob in high school. He was a fat little rich kid that everybody picked on. I decided he might be useful later in life so I befriended that little wimp. I started protecting him from the high school bullies. Soon nobody picked on him anymore.

Like in the saying, “Rich kids go to college, poor kids go to war,” well that’s what happened to me. I did three years in the Army as an M.P. then came home after a tour in Bagdad.

I went to junior college and got a degree in Law Enforcement then a job with the Sheriff’s Department in the small county where we all grew up.

I had always wanted to be a cop. I had an uncle who was a cop in a big city and when he visited he had lots of stories. Some my father did not like his brother telling.

You see Uncle Tim was a corrupt cop. He bragged about shaking down drug dealers, getting blowjobs from whores for letting them work in his area and rich people paying him for not writing tickets. Then there were stories of turning in less money on busts he made. Even though my dad did not agree, I think he envied his brother. This guy retired and moved to Florida with a pension and enough money to live the rest of his life on. While my parents were married over 49 years Uncle Tim never married. I wanted to be just like him. He was my hero!

I was in my fourth year as a Sheriff’s Deputy and moving up in the department when it happened.

There was a bank robbery in town. The Sheriff and the Lt. were the first on the scene. A gunfight started as the robbers exited the bank and the sheriff was killed before he even got a shot off. The Lt. was badly wounded. He would never walk again.

I got there just in time to see what was going on. The robbers were in the get-a-way car and starting to pull away. I slammed my patrol car into theirs. They were trapped with my car pinning them on one side and a telephone pole on the other! They were dazed as I got out and walked up to the front of their car.

No, I did not read them their rights. I shot both thru the windshield with my .357 service revolver! The official statement said they ignored my demand that they put their hands on the dashboard and were ‘scrambling’ for their guns.

I was hailed as a hero and the county commissioners appointed me acting Sheriff until the next election. Which I won easily!