A former Washington County constable pleaded not guilty to a felony charge accusing him of impersonating a law enforcement officer.
Tommy Clowers, 65, of Springdale is charged with criminal impersonation in the first degree, a Class D felony, and possession of emergency lights, a Class A misdemeanor. He pleaded not guilty to each of the charges Monday during his arraignment before Circuit Judge Robin Green.
The impersonation charge relates to a Jan. 18 incident in Benton County where Clowers is accused of impersonating a law enforcement officer by wearing law enforcement insignia and using a motor vehicle marked to resemble a law enforcement vehicle while making a traffic stop. He’s also accused of activating a blue light in his vehicle during the same incident, according to court documents.
Clowers was arrested Jan. 25 and later released from the Benton County Jail on $2,500 bond.
The Benton County Sheriff ’s Office received a complaint from a man who said he had been stopped and was concerned the person wasn’t a police officer.
The complainant said the man who stopped him had emergency lights on his vehicle and wore a jacket with a sewn-on badge, according to a Benton County Sheriff ’s Office news release. The man left the scene in his vehicle when the person who had been stopped asked to see identification, according to court documents.
Deputy Jason Wood was on patrol in Bentonville on Jan. 18 and saw a vehicle equipped to look like a police vehicle with a badge decal on one door that read “Civil Officer.”
The vehicle also had an emergency light bar with blue lights. Wood recorded the vehicle’s tag number, according to court documents.
The information led to Clowers. Benton County Sheriff ’s Oftce deputies and Springdale police searched Clowers’ home and found several items including the “Civil Officer” markings and blue light bars.
Clowers is a former police officer at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill, but he doesn’t work for any law enforcement agency now, according to the release.
Clowers told deputies he believes he has the right to make traffic stops, according to court document.
Clowers, a Springdale Republican, was first elected constable in 1998, according to a 2010 news report.
He lost the constable race in the May 2012 preferential primary. Clowers’ term as constable ended Dec. 31.
Clower’s next court date is set for April 15.
If convicted, Clowers could be sentenced up to six years in prison or fined up to $10,000 or both. The misdemeanor charge is punishable with up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000 or both.