Former lawyer nabbed in DWI

A former Fayetteville lawyer with two outstanding warrants and about $1 million in civil court judgments against him was arrested Nov. 23 in Eureka Springs on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Gregory Dee Jones, 50, abandoned his law practice in Fayetteville last year and disappeared after a death threat he reported to police, leaving 4,000 case files behind.

Jones resurfaced in Eureka Springs in July, a month before surrendering his law license in lieu of disbarment proceedings. Since moving to Eureka Springs, Jones has twice been arrested for public intoxication.

On the day after Thanksgiving, Jones was driving west on U.S. 62 in a silver 2005 Toyota Prius around 9:30 p.m. when he was unable to negotiate a curve to the right, according to a Eureka Springs police report. The car reportedly went through a tree line and onto the property at Eureka Springs Sunset Lodge and Cabins, which is owned by Fred and Becky Halper.

Becky Halper said the car snapped a couple of small trees and part of the bumper was left at the scene.

Jones then drove the car about a mile east on U.S. 62 back into Eureka Springs, police said. Fred Halper got in his vehicle and followed the Prius.

Jones stopped on the highway in front of the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks, according to the police report. Fred Halper called police and waited until theyarrived. He told police Jones got out of the vehicle “and staggered into the roadway.”

Jones agreed to take a field sobriety test, but after failing the first part, he refused to take more tests “because I am drunk,” according to the report.

Jones was released the next day on $2,900 bond after spending the night in a holding cell, said Police Chief Earl Hyatt.

Elizabeth A. Sweeny, 49, a passenger in the vehicle, was charged with obstructing governmental operations. Sweeny told police she was the driver of the Prius, but Fred Halper told them Jones was driving the car.

Sweeny responded by email to a reporter, saying she was driving and that the accident occurred after she swerved to avoid hitting a deer.

Jones has two warrants out for his arrest on charges of failure to appear in court. One of those warrants is in connection to a public intoxication arrest in Fayetteville on Oct. 28, 2011. The other warrant was issued after Jones was charged with leaving the scene of an accident withoutgiving police information on April 2 in Sarasota, Fla.

Jones was to be arraigned in Fayetteville District Court on Aug. 17, but didn’t show up for that hearing either, a clerk said.

Clinton “Casey” Jones, prosecuting attorney for Fayetteville, said the city wouldn’t normally send an officer to Eureka Springs to pick someone up on a warrant related to a public intoxication charge.

Gregory Jones was charged with public intoxication in Eureka Springs on July 26 and again on Aug. 3.

Eureka Springs City Attorney Tim Weaver couldn’t be reached for comment.

On Aug. 14, the Arkansas Supreme Court accepted the voluntary surrender of Jones’ law license in lieu of disbarment proceedings. In a July 19 petition filed with the Supreme Court, Jones stated that he wanted to avoid “the expense, stress and publicity of a formal disbarment proceeding.”

Stark Ligon, executive director of the Committee on Professional Conduct, which recommended the action to the Supreme Court, said at the time that the case was unprecedented.

When Jones disappeared, he left behind some 4,000 files pertaining to 2,000 current and former clients dating back more than 30 years. Jones practiced law for about 20 years, and his father, Lewis Jones, had files at the firm dating back 10 years before that, Ligon said.

Ligon became the courtappointed receiver of Jones’ files and returned those to clients or their families and shredded files that couldn’t be returned.

Jones has law degrees from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Washington County Circuit Court records show several lawsuits against Jones.The largest judgment against him is for $870,500, awarded to Blake Ogden. Jones had handled the estate of Blake Ogden’s father, the late Gregg Ogden, founder of Athletic World Advertising Inc. - a sports calendar company based in Fayetteville.

On May 26, 2011, Fayetteville police were called to Jones’ office after an unidentified man called and told his secretary to tell Jones “he’s a dead man for what he did to the Ogdens,” according to an article in the Northwest Arkansas Times.

Jones would not give police a list of suspects and police did not pursue the case further.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 11/30/2012

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