Photo: Jonathan Cole Smith, Jr. (left), David Zach Peifer (right)
A 23-year-old man who has been arrested both inside and outside the Baxter County jail appeared in circuit court Monday facing charges in three open criminal cases.
The latest charges filed against Jonathan Cole Smith, Jr., allege that he, along with 22-year-old David (Zach) Peifer, created disturbances in the jail by kicking the door of their cell, flooding the space multiple times and fashioning a “shank” out of a metal broom handle.
Smith entered a guilty plea to the charges in all three cases and was sentenced to five years in prison. He is already serving time in prison on an earlier conviction.
At the time of the incident, Smith said the two cellmates were causing problems because they had been moved and wanted to be sent back to “their Pod.”
At one point, Smith is reported to have said jailers could move him and shut off the toilet, but he would find a way to flood his new cell and make life “hard” for jailers unless he got his way.
During their protest about the move, either Smith or Peifer or both were accused of blocking toilets and sinks in their cell causing flooding on multiple occasions, breaking a telephone in the booking area, blocking security cameras and setting off the jail’s fire suppression system by breaking off a sprinkler head.
Smith and Peifer were also charged with turning a metal broom handle into a crude weapon. The activity was caught on surveillance camera video. The two men were seen inserting the handle into their cell door and twisting it.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the result of their activity was that one end of the handle was twisted into a shape that could cause injury to jailers or other inmates.
Jailers also saw Peifer attempt to conceal the “shank” in a trash can where it was found and removed from the jail’s housing area.
Charges against Smith stemming from the alleged construction of the “shank” include impairing the operation of a public facility, possession of weapons by an incarcerated person and criminal mischief.
SMITH’S LATEST ARREST OUTSIDE OF JAIL
In early January, Smith was arrested on his own after police officers from several agencies responded to two “open line 911 calls” from a residence along Cresswell Drive.
When the officers knocked on the door 37-year-old Jessika Shirley came out. She was described as “frightened” and seemed to want police to speak in hushed tones.
She was able to remove her young son from the house and they were taken to a patrol car to keep them safe. She told officers that Smith was in the residence and armed with a handgun.
She also said it was possible Smith “could be under the influence of drugs” and that he was “very paranoid” over his belief the victim had been unfaithful.
Shirley said Smith demanded to know the name of the person he thought was involved in a relationship with her and threatened that she needed to “tell me who it is before things get bloody.”
Police also learned that Smith was a parole absconder with an active no bond arrest warrant issued on him.
Officers from several agencies arrived on scene and established a perimeter around the residence. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to contact Smith.
About five hours into the standoff, Smith opened the door and was taken into custody. A search warrant was obtained, and officers reported finding a Ruger 9-millimeter handgun in the attic of the home.
Smiths charges stemming from the raid on the house along Cresswell included aggravated assault, terroristic threatening, being a felon in possession of a firearm and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Shirley, in what appears to have been a misguided attempt to deflect blame from Smith who was identified as her boyfriend, sent a letter to the court on August 9 saying what she had told the police on the day of the incident was made up. She said she did what she did because she was angry with Smith, for allegedly cheating on her and she wanted to get back at him.
During a session of circuit court August 28, Shirley admitted sending the letter containing the false claim that she had given the police incorrect information on the day of the incident. on The incident had happened as she described it initially to responding officers.
NO LONGER CELLMATES
Smith and Peifer are being held in separate units of the state prison system. Smith is an inmate in the North Central Unit of the prison system at Calico Rock and Peifer at the East Arkansas Max Unit in Marianna.
Smith shows to have no major disciplinary violations on his prison record, but Peifer has picked up several, including group disruption, battery, threatening to inflict injury and failure to obey orders.
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