Two arrested, one shot during robbery attempt

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

A Benton Police Department officer shot a parolee accused of breaking into a hotel construction site early Monday, striking him once, according to a department spokesman.

The officer, whose name wasn’t released Monday, struck Michael Dickson, 34, who charged at and began fighting the officer, spokesman Lt. Kevin Russell said. Dickson didn’t have life-threatening injuries but was admitted to Saline Memorial Hospital, he said.

Once he is released, he will be charged with felon in possession of a firearm, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, felony fleeing, commercial burglary, criminal trespassing and first-degree criminal mischief.

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Another man with Dickson - Wesley Harris, 22 - was charged with commercial burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, fleeing and criminal trespass. He remained at the Saline County jail Monday awaiting a bond hearing.

Shortly before 4 a.m., two officers spotted suspicious activity at the hotel construction site at 17324 Interstate 30, just next to the Benton Event Center. The officers went into the site, where they found the two Hot Springs men inside an equipment trailer with construction materials and tools, Russell said.

When the two officers confronted them, Harris began running toward I-30 and crossed the highway on foot, Russell said. The second officer chased after Harris and caught him at a Murphy USA gas station a couple of hundred yards away, he said.

At about the same time, Dickson was still at the construction site and “became combative” with the first officer and fought with him, police said. During the fight, the officer fired at Dickson, police said.

Russell said he didn’t know how many times the officer fired or where Dickson was struck.

Dickson then got into his vehicle, which was parked nearby, and fled, leading officers in a pursuit, Russell said. He surrendered to police in the Saline Memorial Hospital parking lot and was admitted as a patient at the hospital soon after.

Officers later found an unknown amount of suspected methamphetamine on Dickson, Russell said.

The officer in the fight suffered scratches and has been placed on administrative leave with pay.

Dickson was convicted in 2012 of breaking or entering, theft by receiving, possession of drug paraphernalia and fleeing. He was sentenced to 5½ years in prison, but was released after serving nearly nine months.

He was currently under supervised parole out of Garland County, and was not scheduled to be released from parole supervision until Jan. 30, 2018. He hadn’t had any slip-ups while on parole, said state Department of Community Correction spokesman Dina Tyler.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/11/2014