bust in austin

Police knew that suspected steroid dealer Damon Bruce Beshears owned an assault rifle and had once threatened suicide before they attempted to execute a search warrant at his apartment on Duval Road in Northwest Austin last week, according to police and a federal criminal complaint.

What Beshears, who was safely arrested, told them later was that he had planned to don a ballistic vest and a Kevlar helmet and to kill as many officers as possible if ever confronted by police, according to the complaint and Austin police Cmdr. Donald Baker.

"Damon was a potential time bomb just waiting to explode," Baker said. "We got to him before he could seriously hurt anyone."

Beshears, a 38-year-old former juvenile corrections officer, is being held in federal custody without bail on a charge of possession with intent to distribute steroids. He could get decades in prison if convicted. His lawyer could not be reached for comment.

During the search, according to a return and inventory document filed in court, police seized almost 5,000 capsules of steroids, including Anadrol and Winstrol ; about 240 vials of steroids, including testosterone; and $4,100 in cash.

Baker, who oversees the organized crime unit, said it was the largest steroid seizure that veteran narcotics detectives in Austin have seen. He said Baker obtained his supply by mail from international sources and sold the drugs over the Internet to clients across the United States.

In addition to the helmet and ballistic vest, police seized a Norinco Mac 90 semiautomatic rifle, a semiautomatic 9 mm pistol, ammunition, a gas mask, a 12-ounce container of pepper spray and a Colt revolver, according to the court documents.

Travis County court records show that Beshears has never been arrested here. Baker said police are still trying to learn more about his background but think he did not have a legitimate job and was a serious bodybuilder.

Baker said Beshears called police in February and reported that he was going to commit suicide. He did not have any further details about that incident.

A spokesman for the Texas Youth Commission said Beshears worked as a juvenile corrections officer in Corsicana and in the Waco area from 1995 to 2006. The spokesman, Jim Hurley, said he did not know why Beshears no longer works there.

According to a police search warrant affidavit, a person identified only as a confidential informant told detectives in May that Beshears was storing and selling steroids out of his apartment at 3625 Duval Road.

Detectives spent hours watching the apartment, the affidavit said. Baker said that Beshears would spend weeks inside without coming out.

Early last week, the informant purchased testosterone from Beshears while police watched, the affidavit said.

By June 7, detectives had obtained the search warrant. Because they believed him to be "emotionally disturbed" based on the suicide threat and because they had been told that he was armed, officers waited outside the apartment for Beshears to emerge rather than knocking on his door, Baker said.

Beshears was safely detained when he came out, Baker said.

Beshears then showed police where the steroids were in his apartment and admitted to illegally manufacturing and selling them, the federal criminal complaint said.

He later told police of his plan to ambush them if he had the chance, Baker said.

Police found a journal "describing how Beshears was going to kill persons before killing himself," the complaint said.

Baker said he is grateful nobody got hurt and said police "did a courageous job and took a serious felon out of commission ."

Posted by S.B.C