THE PROCESS IS THE PENALTY

John Wollaston's Self-Defense Story

Discover how USCCA Membership provided critical support to John, helping him navigate legal challenges and reclaim his life.

Location: Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Charges: 4 counts Wanton Endangerment (felony), 2 Counts Assault (misdemeanor)
Not Guilty: All 6 Counts Dismissed by Grand Jury
$42,500: Legal fees covered

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By the time his case was resolved, John Wollaston would lose his job, exhaust his savings, and spend seven months unable to move forward – despite never firing a single shot.

John had spent his entire adult life scanning outward.

Twenty-three years, eleven months, and seven days in the U.S. Army … deployed to Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Korea, and more.

He and Billie Jo had started carrying concealed in 2016, when they returned stateside. They joined the USCCA® in 2017.

"You always try to protect for the external threats to your family," John said. "You're scanning out. You're always thinking, 'What from the outside of this circle could hurt us?'"

On May 31, 2022, the threat came from inside their circle.

Their daughter Jessica, 25, and her boyfriend Todd, 35, attacked John and Billie Jo inside their Elizabethtown, Kentucky home.

By the time it was over, John would be in handcuffs.

"I didn't even fire a bullet," John said.

"I merely pulled my weapon out and held them at bay until the police got there."

The evening started as a good one.

Billie Jo had spent the day out with Jessica and the grandkids … a road trip, a Buc-ee's stop, the boys loading up on toys and junk food. They were even singing on the drive back.

When they pulled into the driveway, Jessica's mood shifted. By the time Todd arrived, the tensions that had been building for months were about to break.

John and Billie Jo retreated to the back patio to give everyone space. Billie Jo had passed her Kentucky real estate exam that week. They cracked open a couple of beers.

That's when Jessica dropped a bombshell: Todd was a felon who had served time in state prison for a weapons charge.

John had already suspected Todd had drug and alcohol issues … and had heard he was recently fired for attacking a co-worker. This was too much. He told anyone who would listen that Todd needed to leave immediately.

Jessica stormed off. John and Billie Jo headed to the basement to let things cool down.

The refuge lasted minutes.

Jessica came storming down the stairs. Todd was right behind her, glaring at John.

"This is a family conversation," John told him. "You need to take your a** back upstairs."

Todd raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, you think so, old man?"

Jessica shoved John. As he raised his hands to absorb the impact, Todd bum-rushed him — tackling both John and Billie Jo onto the concrete floor.

He was bigger, younger, and throwing haymakers. Bottles shattered across the basement, covering the floor in glass.

Jessica grabbed both of their cellphones and ran upstairs. Todd followed, screaming: "I'm going to kill you, mother***!" They slammed the door shut and put their weight against it, trapping John and Billie Jo below.

Blood ran from cuts on John's legs and arms. Billie Jo had a deep gash on the bottom of her foot. Both had knots from hitting the concrete.

When Todd and Jessica finally moved to the upstairs bedroom, John and Billie Jo escaped the basement.

John knew something that made the situation worse: Jessica's pistol was unsecured in her bedroom closet…

A violent felon with death threats and access to a loaded 9mm … directly behind the door where his two young grandsons were sleeping.

John retrieved his SIG Sauer P365. He held it at low-ready at the top of the stairs, ordered Jessica and Todd to leave, and waited.

Billie Jo ran to a neighbor's house to call 911.

Officers arrived in force. Four surrounded John and Billie Jo on the front porch while others dealt with Jessica and Todd upstairs. John gave them everything he had. They even administered breathalyzer tests.

"Not at any time did I feel like they thought he was a suspect," Billie Jo said.

Then, after his wounds were bandaged, an officer asked John to stand up.

Handcuffs.

"Why? I'm the victim here!"

"Because you pulled your gun," the officer said.

John was loaded into a patrol car. Sitting there, he thought about one thing: I have to call the USCCA and get things rolling right now.

At the Hardin County Detention Center, the booking officer handed him his phone for one call. John pulled up the USCCA App and hit the number.

The Critical Response Team member confirmed his membership details and took Billie Jo's number. When the officer pressed John to end the call, the woman on the line steadied him.

We've got you. We're going to take care of you. Be safe.

Less than 15 minutes later, Billie Jo was on the phone with attorney John Olash.

John spent 18 hours in county jail. He was arraigned and charged with four felony counts of wanton endangerment … one for each person in the bedroom … and two misdemeanor assault charges.

Those charges can lead to 20 years in prison in the state of Kentucky.

"I had to pick my jaw up off the ground," John said.

The months that followed were grinding. Constant court delays. Required weekly check-ins with the county. A community small enough that John felt watched everywhere he went.

In September, the Army notified him his employment contract would not be renewed.

He was out of work … and background checks kept him out of every new position he applied for.

Billie Jo started working with a real estate brokerage to keep them afloat. They burned through nearly all of their savings and retirement funds.

Olash built the case methodically – requesting body-cam footage that was never provided and breathalyzer results that were never officially recorded.

The evidence was clear: John had acted in justifiable self-defense, had called police, and had done nothing reckless.

At a preliminary hearing in October, Olash made an unusual move – he put Billie Jo on the stand. She had been waiting since the night of the incident for a chance to tell her side. It played out exactly as Olash had anticipated.

The judge denied the motion to dismiss anyway.

The case went to a grand jury.

John and Billie Jo waited through November.

Through Thanksgiving.

Through the approach of Christmas.

On December 1, six months and one day after the incident … a call came from the county.

Would you like an early Christmas present?

The grand jury had met that morning. No true bill, not enough evidence to support the charges.

All six counts dismissed.

"I just kind of got weak all over and I teared up a little bit," John recalled. "I said, 'Well, ma'am, that's the best Christmas present you could give me right now.'"

John's entire defense – bail, legal fees, the expungement process … was covered in full through his USCCA Membership benefits.

He started a new radio position in Lexington the following May.

The family rifts remain. John and Billie Jo have not spoken to their grandsons since that night. They haven't seen Jessica. The losses go far beyond what any verdict can restore.

John reached out to Concealed Carry Magazine to tell this story because he wants other responsibly armed Americans to understand what he didn't fully grasp before May 31, 2022:

Doing everything right doesn't guarantee you won't find yourself in handcuffs.

"People need to know that even if you do everything right, you can still find yourself in handcuffs. I couldn't imagine how much worse this would have been if this guy had stepped through that door."

For John Wollaston, USCCA Membership was the one thing that didn't fail him when everything else did.

Surviving an attack is only half the battle.

The legal fight that follows can be just as devastating to your freedom, family, and finances.

Attorney retainer:

$25k–$100k+

Expert witnesses:

$5k–$15k

(each)

Trial & bail costs:

$100k–$500k+

JOIN 860,400+ MEMBERS

When you take advantage of the education, training, and self-defense liability insurance¹ you get with your USCCA^® Membership, you'll be ready for the before, during, AND after of a deadly encounter.

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