The following story is reprinted with permission from The Oglethorpe Echo
By Echo staff
Leigh Ann Dieball said her husband had a “psychotic break” and wasn’t a threat to anyone but himself during a standoff with law enforcement officials that lasted nearly five hours near Maxeys on Aug. 7.
Kane Quilliam Dieball, 33, was arrested about 6:30 p.m. to end the standoff at a house on Poplar Creek Road. Leigh Ann and four children were in the house for at least two hours during that time.
“And I know it seemed like a hostage situation, but nobody was held hostage,” she said. “Nobody was. He never threatened to harm any of us.”
Kane Dieball was charged with aggravated assault, according to the arrest report, but Oglethorpe County Sheriff David Gabriel said Monday that he likely faces other charges, including making terroristic threats and acts, cruelty to children (third degree) and false imprisonment, among others.
A 911 call was made at 1:59 p.m. Aug. 7. Kane Dieball was booked at the Oglethorpe County Jail at 7:12 p.m. The Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol responded to the incident.
Leigh Ann Dieball said she and the children left the house about 4:30 p.m.
At one point prior to that, she said Kane and herself were in a wooded area near the house, and that he fired one shot from a rifle, which Gabriel confirmed.
“I was down there trying to reason with Kane,” Leigh Ann Dieball said. “When I was ready to go back to the house, I freely got up and walked back to the house.”
She later added: “I was present when he fired it, but he did not fire it at me. He was not trying to harm me.”
She said her husband has mental health issues and hadn’t taken his medication because he doesn’t have insurance and can’t afford it. He “has dealt with mental health issues since childhood,” Leigh Ann Dieball said.
“His whole deal was … he was having a psychotic break because usually Kane will take his medicine,” she said.
Gabriel said Oglethorpe County Chief Deputy Jason Taft was the scene commander.
“(Kane Dieball) was saying that, pretty much, he wasn’t gonna be taken alive and all this other stuff, that he was going to have a shootout with police,” Gabriel said.
He added, “A lot of times what you’ll find is when you have dynamic situations, when you have the element of time that’s added into it, the higher the probability of a peaceful outcome. So you don’t wanna rush in there and cause something to happen.”
During the standoff, there were nine law enforcement vehicles near the intersection of Laurel Street and Poplar Creek Road, and another seven farther down Laurel Street, near the Maxeys Community Center.
An Athens-Clarke County SUV blocked the intersection of Poplar Creek Road and Laurel Street and an Athens-Clarke County Emergency Management Mobile Communication truck was parked at the Maxeys Post Office at about 5:30 p.m.Quilliam Dieball, 33, was arrested about 6:30 p.m. to end the standoff at a house on Poplar Creek Road. Leigh Ann Dieball and four children were in the house for at least two hours during that time.
“And I know it seemed like a hostage situation, but nobody was held hostage,” she said. “Nobody was. He never threatened to harm any of us.”
Kane Dieball was charged with aggravated assault, according to the arrest report, but Oglethorpe County Sheriff David Gabriel said Monday that he likely faces other charges, including making terroristic threats and acts, cruelty to children (third degree) and false imprisonment, among others.
A 911 call was made at 1:59 p.m. Aug. 7. Kane Dieball was booked at the Oglethorpe County Jail at 7:12 p.m. The Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol responded to the incident.
Leigh Ann Dieball said she and the children left the house about 4:30 p.m.
At one point prior to that, she said Kane and herself were in a wooded area near the house, and that he fired one shot from a rifle, which Gabriel confirmed.
“I was down there trying to reason with Kane,” Leigh Ann Dieball said. “When I was ready to go back to the house, I freely got up and walked back to the house.”
She later added: “I was present when he fired it, but he did not fire it at me. He was not trying to harm me.”
She said her husband has mental health issues and hadn’t taken his medication because he doesn’t have insurance and can’t afford it. He “has dealt with mental health issues since childhood,” Leigh Ann Dieball said.
“His whole deal was … he was having a psychotic break because usually Kane will take his medicine,” she said.
Gabriel said Oglethorpe County Chief Deputy Jason Taft was the scene commander.
“(Kane Dieball) was saying that, pretty much, he wasn’t gonna be taken alive and all this other stuff, that he was going to have a shootout with police,” Gabriel said.
He added, “A lot of times what you’ll find is when you have dynamic situations, when you have the element of time that’s added into it, the higher the probability of a peaceful outcome. So you don’t wanna rush in there and cause something to happen.”
During the standoff, there were nine law enforcement vehicles near the intersection of Laurel Street and Poplar Creek Road, and another seven farther down Laurel Street, near the Maxeys Community Center.
An Athens-Clarke County SUV blocked the intersection of Poplar Creek Road and Laurel Street and an Athens-Clarke County Emergency Management Mobile Communication truck was parked at the Maxeys Post Office at about 5:30 p.m.
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