A Cotter Police Department officer has submitted his resignation, following an incident Saturday evening when a Baxter County Sheriff’s deputy responded to reports of fireworks being shot in Cotter. The deputy arrived at the corner of Combs Avenue and Second Street, heard music playing from a side-by-side UTV and observed a large group of people standing outside.
According to a sheriff’s office incident report, when the deputy was speaking to the crowd about the report of the fireworks and the music, a male in the group, identified as Joel Richardson, said he was a sergeant with Cotter PD. The deputy observed Richardson had a portable radio turned on monitoring law enforcement dispatch.
Richardson allegedly told the deputy there were no noise ordinances for commercial properties in Cotter, and the group had every right to play loud music from that site.
A second male in the group advised his neighbor didn’t like him and had called the sheriff’s department to report their activities.
The deputy also noted Richardson had a baseball bat next to him. He then advised the group to keep the noise to a minimum, left and called his supervisor for assistance.
Accompanied by his supervisor, the deputy returned to the scene where the music was no longer playing. It was also noted there was no evidence of fireworks. When they approached the group, Richardson allegedly was holding the bat, became argumentative and told the two men from the sheriff’s office they were harassing them and to leave them alone.
While explaining to the property owner a citation for disorderly conduct could be issued under state law if complaints were received, Richardson was observed tossing the bat back and forth between his hands. He then reportedly told the sheriff’s sergeant he could not write a ticket under those conditions in the city limits.
The sergeant said he informed Richardson without a Cotter officer on duty at that time and the sheriff’s office covering calls for the city, the same set of rules for any other location in the county would be applied. The two men from the sheriff’s office departed without further incident.
Cotter Mayor George “Mac” Caradine told KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot news Sergeant Richardson submitted his resignation to him on Tuesday on his own. The resignation was effective immediately. Mayor Caradine says he had no further comment, except he wished the officer well. He says Richardson would have observed two years of employment with the Cotter Police Department in September.
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