The state/region in brief

2 officers quizzed

in fatal shooting

POCAHONTAS - Police Chief Cecil Tackett has suspended two officers with pay after the fatal shooting of a man they were attempting to arrest.

Tackett said the two officers, whom he would not name, were questioned by Arkansas State Police investigators Monday. The investigators are expected to turn their report over to 3rd Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce later this week to determine if the shooting was justified.

Jonathan Tims, 27, was shot late in the evening Feb. 7 on Newberry Road in southwest Pocahontas.

Tackett said Tims’ girlfriend had called police and told them that Tims had pointed a gun at her earlier in the evening at her apartment and then pulled the trigger. She said the gun jammed and did not fire, and Tims ran away, Tackett said.

Police searched the area but did not immediately find Tims. Later that evening, police found Tims in a wooded area off U.S. 62 on Newberry Road, Tackett said.

“We tried to arrest him, but he decided he didn’t want to be taken,” Tackett said.

“He raised his weapon but did not get a round off.”

The two officers shot Tims with their .40-caliber handguns. Tims was pronounced dead at the scene, Tackett said.

  • ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEGarland shooting case ends in plea

TEXARKANA - A 4 -year-old criminal case involving the shooting death of a man in Garland ended Tuesday with a manslaughter plea.

Henry Lee Booker, 41, initially was charged with second-degree murder in Miller County in February 2009.

Sylvester Dudley, 47, was shot Feb. 6, 2009.

Dudley died the morning afterward while undergoing surgery at a local hospital, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Booker turned himself in after the shooting, maintaining he shot Dudley in self-defense, the affidavit said.

Officials said previously that Booker and Dudley had been at odds for some time.

Booker appeared Tuesday morning before Circuit Judge Joe Griffin with Texarkana lawyer Jason Horton.

Prosecuting Attorney Carlton Jones told Griffin that the state moved to reduce the charge from second-degree murder to manslaughter.

Horton did not object.

Griffin ordered Booker to pay a $1,000 fine, court costs of $150, a DNA recording fee of $250, a public defender user fee of $100, a bailiff fee of $100, a booking fee of $20 and an attorney fee of $300.

  • ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Lake Hamilton OKs property-tax jump

PEARCY - Voters approved a 3.

9-millproperty tax increase Tuesday to help pay for $36 million in new school construction and renovation in the Lake Hamilton School District.

Complete but unofficial results were: For...............................1,248 Against........................ 1,012

Lake Hamilton will now have a school millage rate of 40.6 mills. The owner of a $50,000 house will pay an additional $39 a year, raising the school taxes for that property owner to $406 a year. The owner of a $100,000 house will pay an additional $78 a year in school taxes, or total school taxes of $812 a year.

  • ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEJonesboro mom, kids held in theft

JONESBORO - Police in Jonesboro have arrested a woman for shoplifting and said she enlisted her children to help.

Authorities said Wednesday that a 29-yearold woman was spotted on store surveillance concealing items Monday at a Sears store.

Jonesboro television station KAIT reported that two children, ages 15 and 10, were also arrested for shoplifting. Two younger children, ages 6 and 8, were present but not involved in the thefts.

The Associated Press doesn’t name juvenile suspects and is withholding the mother’s name to protect the identities of the children.

The older children were taken to the Craighead County Juvenile Detention Center and the younger ones were released to a relative.

A 47-year-old man was also charged and was held on an unrelated felony warrant out of West Memphis.

  • THE ASSOCIATED PRESSNo adult charges in flare-gun case

HOXIE - Prosecutors said a 16-year-old student who took a flare gun to Hoxie High School won’t be charged as an adult in the incident.

Prosecutor Henry Boyce said the male student will be charged in juvenile court with bringing a prohibited article to school.

Police said the teen brought a pistol-style, German-model flare gun onto the Hoxie campus on Jan. 29. Authorities said the teen didn’t threaten anyone and told police that he took the flare gun to school by mistake.

The Jonesboro Sun reported that the teen has a previous criminal history and officials said he likely won’t return to Hoxie High School.

Since the incident, the district has increased its school security efforts.

Officials said the school is considering drills to simulate an active shooter on campus.

  • THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 02/15/2013

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