Mark Jeffries Jr. (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A Baxter County Detention Center inmate is accused of striking another late last month after they were both attempting to use the toilet. Thirty-seven-year-old Mark Jeffries Jr. of Gassville is facing charges of third-degree battery and impairing the operations of a vital public facility.
According to the incident report from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, a jailer received a radio transmission May 29 of an ongoing altercation in one of the pods. The jailer arrived to find another jailer with his Taser drawn while instructing the inmates to sit on their racks, and Jeffries was handcuffed.
A review of camera footage reportedly showed Jeffries and the victim heading toward the toilet, and Jeffries got to it first. While the victim waited, he turned his back and walked away, but Jeffries was seen yelling something at him. When Jeffries finished, he allegedly walked to the victim and punched his face.
The first responding jailer arrived and put cuffs on Jeffries. He was not able to calm the pod down until he drew his Taser, just before the reporting deputy arrived.
Jeffries is incarcerated after allegedly giving a drink to others that was laced with drugs in February. He is facing two counts of introducing a controlled substance into the body of another person, a Class Y felony, the most serious crime in Arkansas not punishable by the death penalty.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI