Photo: James Hoton
Responding to a call of a man displaying a firearm, Searcy County law enforcement found a convicted felon, 28-year-old James Horton of St. Joe, in the 1800 block of South Woolum Road Wednesday.
As patrol units responding to the call came to a stop, Horton could reportedly be seen removing a single action revolver from his clothing.
Horton “tossed” the .22 caliber handgun off the roadway, and Sheriff Kenny Cassell says the St. Joe man was “immediately arrested at gun point by law enforcement.”
A closer inspection of the weapon showed it to be loaded with one round missing.
Horton was transported to the Searcy County Detention Center and has been charged with possession of a firearm by certain persons, meaning he is a convicted felon. He is also facing an enhancement penalty for being a habitual offender. His bond was set at $7,500.
Horton has a lengthy criminal history, including an incident in September 2017 when he was sentenced to 90 days in the Searcy County jail on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. He was originally charged with an addition felony count of attempts to cause physical contact of a nature to cause physical injury to any animal owned by or used by a law enforcement agency.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the charges stemmed from an incident after Horton had been conditionally released by the Arkansas Board of Parole and has reportedly violated a no contact order.
After a deputy repeatedly knocked at a residence along the 500 block of U.S. Highway 65 in St. Joe where Horton was reported to be without a response, he kicked open the door.
The deputy repeatedly announced his presence, saying if Horton did not respond, he would enter with his K9 Endy, and the St. Joe man could be bitten.
The deputy and his K9 found Horton in a bed inside the residence, with his left hand under the cover.
As Horton sat up rapidly with his left hand still under the cover and his right clinched in a fist, the deputy released the K9.
The K9 grasped Horton by his right triceps with his teeth and began to drag the man from the bed.
Horton began to kick and punch the K9 and then scuffle with the deputy as he resisted arrest. With the assistance of a second deputy, Horton was arrested, taken to the Searcy County jail and assessed by medical personnel from North Arkansas Medical Center in Harrison. After treatment of his wounds at the jail, he reportedly refused to be transported to the hospital.
It was the second consecutive day Horton had fled from law enforcement, with K9 Endy used unsuccessfully to track the St. Joe man the prior day.
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