photo by: Lawrence Police Department

Lawrence police barricaded a suspect in a car using spike strips and an armored truck during an hour-long standoff on April 23, 2023, in the 100 block of N. Michigan St. Louis Galloway Jr. was arrested after police deployed "OC gas" into the vehicle and forced their way into the car.

Law enforcement launched a pepper spray canister into a car and arrested a wanted Lawrence man inside it on Sunday after an hourlong standoff in which he refused to leave the vehicle.

Louis George Galloway Jr., 32, was scheduled to be sentenced in Douglas County District Court on April 13 for a low-level drug possession charge for methamphetamine. He had pleaded no contest in December as part of a plea agreement in which felony charges for battery on a law enforcement officer, obstruction and criminal damage were dismissed, but he failed to appear in court for his sentencing and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

According to a social media post from the Lawrence Police Department, officers tried to serve the warrant on Galloway around 10:45 p.m. Sunday in the 100 block of North Michigan Street while he was the passenger in a vehicle that had been pulled over. Lawrence police were assisted by Douglas County sheriff’s deputies.

Officers barricaded the vehicle by putting spikes under the tires and parking an armored truck in front of the car. Police tried to talk Galloway out of the vehicle but were only able to arrest him after deputies deployed “OC gas” and forced their way into the car.

“Oleoresin Capsicum, or OC, is pepper spray. Its effects are not lasting and wear off after several minutes, but it is an effective tool when a person is resisting commands from law enforcement,” said sheriff’s office spokesperson George Diepenbrock in an email to the Journal-World. “The Lawrence Police Department requested DGSO deputies to assist with this incident, and a deputy used a 40mm less-than-lethal launcher to deploy an OC round into the vehicle,”

Galloway was affected by the gas, giving Lawrence police an opportunity to breach the vehicle. Galloway was checked by medics at the scene but did not require medical treatment, Diepenbrock said.

After the incident, Galloway was charged with felony interference with law enforcement. He is being held at the Douglas County Jail on $3,000 cash or surety bond, according to the jail booking log.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Louis G. Galloway Jr.

Despite the low-level nature of the drug charge, Galloway’s criminal history score is significant and places him in the highest sentencing range, according to his plea agreement. The Kansas sentencing guidelines recommend a sentence between 37 and 42 months.

Galloway’s attorney, Shaye Downing, filed a motion prior to his scheduled sentencing hearing for a departure from prison, arguing that Galloway has acknowledged that he has a substance-abuse problem and that he needs drug treatment, not prison.

Another argument Downing made is that Galloway spent 504 days in the Douglas County Jail for felony charges in 2021 for battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated burglary and fleeing from police that the state eventually dismissed due to “witness unavailability and insufficient evidence.”

Downing argues that the time he served on that case was never credited toward anything and that time should be considered by the court when sentencing him on the drug case.

Galloway was convicted in 2011 for battery on a law enforcement officer for throwing a “haymaker” punch and injuring the eye of Lawrence Police Officer Jonathan Evinger. The incident was said to have happened when officers tried to arrest Galloway on suspicion of stealing 14 cases of beer from a hotel. Evinger was knocked to the ground but was still able to deploy pepper spray that deterred a juvenile who was attacking another officer, as reported by the Journal-World.

Galloway was convicted by a Douglas County jury and sentenced by Judge Kay Huff to five years in prison, with a courtroom audience of about 30 Lawrence police officers and detectives in attendance. Evinger later received the Lawrence Police Department’s first Purple Heart award to honor officers injured in the line of duty.