Police: Man forced bullet into his leg with a hammer

A man has been charged with falsification after claiming he was shot at a gas station Wednesday.



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The Marion Police Department responded to the MotoMart on West Center Street Wednesday evening after Kenneth Stapleton, 48, of Marion, claimed to be shot.

Stapleton told officers he was walking in the parking lot, heard a shot and felt something strike him in the right thigh. He said he did not see a suspect and security video from the store did not provide any further information.
"Nobody heard a shot, nobody had seen anything," Chief Bill Collins said. "When he walked into the store, he was kind of limping. Then he goes out by the car and just falls on the ground."
Stapleton was transported to Marion General Hospital where he was treated. A high-powered rifle round was removed from his thigh.
Officers discovered evidence that led them to believe the incident might have been staged. They suspect it was done in an effort to obtain pain-killing medication.
Lt. Ed Brown said he and other officers were suspicious of the size of the bullet recovered. He said one of this size would have either exited the skin or broken a bone.
"(This bullet) was more superficially into the skin," he said.
On Thursday evening, Stapleton was interviewed and confessed to removing the round from its casing with pliers and then using a hammer to insert it into his own leg.
Collins said he has seen people break their fingers to try and get pain medicine, but he has never seen anyone go to this extent.