Armed man arrested after confronting authorities
STEVEN MROSS
The Sentinel-Record
A local man was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges after reportedly having a confrontation with Garland County sheriff’s deputies and Arkansas State Police troopers while armed with a gun Monday night.
Rey Hernandez, 33, of 116 Jamison Lane, unit B-2, was taken into custody at his residence shortly after 8:30 p.m. and charged with a felony count of simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, punishable by up to life in prison, and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamines, punishable by up to one year in jail, and public intoxication.
He was still being held without bond Wednesday and is set to appear March 25 in Garland County District Court.
According to reports, shortly before 8:30 p.m., GCSD Cpl. Robbie Swinney, Lt. David Wolf and ASP Troopers Steed and Cook responded to the Jamison Lane residence to a disturbance in progress with shots fired in the area.
The officers arrived on scene and spoke to a neighbor who told them he had heard a disturbance outside and saw an Hispanic male with a gun. He said he went back inside and then heard a gunshot so he called 911.
The officers then spoke to a male witness who told them his roommate, identified as Hernandez, was “very intoxicated” and was angry because the roommate had been talking to the Hernandez’s girlfriend.
He said Hernandez came outside and started hitting the roommate’s pickup so the roommate took the suspect’s girlfriend home. As he left, he noted Hernandez came outside again waving a handgun around and then fired it once.
Swinney said they went to locate the suspect and as he was driving to the back of the condo he saw an Hispanic male walking down the hill with a chrome-plated handgun in his hand.
All the officers drew their weapons and ordered Hernandez to drop the gun numerous times, but instead he put the gun in his waistband and continued walking to the condo. He pulled the gun out again as he entered the condo.
Swinney and Trooper Cook approached the front of the condo and the suspect emerged from the front door. He was ordered at gunpoint to get on the ground and he complied and was taken into custody without further incident.
He didn’t have a gun on his person at that time, but after the roommate let the officers in the condo they found a .357 chrome-plated revolver on the counter and noted it wasn’t loaded.
While talking to Hernandez, they noted he had a strong odor of intoxicants coming from him and was unsteady on his feet.
He was transported to the detention center and during a search of his person jailers found a small plastic baggie in his rear pocket that contained a white powder that later tested positive for meth.
Hernandez was transported by LifeNet to Mercy Hospital Hot Springs to be evaluated, but was later released and was booked into the detention center on the charges shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday.
