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March 23, 2023
At 8:16 a.m. yesterday morning the Levy County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center received a panicked emergency call. The caller reported a male walking on the Greenway Trial in Fanning Springs acting erratically while waiving around a hatchet. The caller feared this person, who was walking in the direction of a business office and around occupied camper trailers, could potentially hurt someone.
Deputies arrived on scene and confronted the subject walking down the Greenway Trail. The deputy saw the man tuck the hatchet into his rear waist band in an attempt to hide it. The man, later identified as Rayford Delton Holder (8/30/86) of Lake City, took an aggressive stance, balled his fists and exclaimed, “I am a god!” Holder then turned and fled from deputies in the direction of an open convenience store.
Deputy Nelson Macias and Sergeant Tom Martin feared this armed individual could harm nearby patrons and gave chase. Deputy Macias was able to use his vehicle to cut Holder off which immediately drew a deadly reaction from him. Holder pulled the hatchet from his rear waistband and began running toward Deputy Macias’s patrol vehicle. Deputy Macias attempted to avoid Holder who bounced off the patrol vehicle and fled into an adjacent wooded lot.
Additional deputies and Chiefland Police Department (CPD) officers arrived to assist. CPD Chief Scott Anderson and Lt. Macy located and confronted Holder on a nearby road. Holder dropped the hatchet when ordered and surrendered. Holder exclaimed the methamphetamines found in his possession were for his ADHD. He also told deputies he was a superhuman angel and he didn’t want to hurt them, but he could if he wanted.
Holder was booked into the Levy County Detention Center and has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement, resisting arrest with violence and possession of meth. His bond has been set at $65,000.00.