Three North Little Rock police officers have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy earlier this year, according to the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office.
Police shot and killed Charles Smith Jr. during a traffic stop near Camp Robinson Road and East 52nd Street early Jan. 7. Dash-camera footage, released by the Police Department days after the shooting, shows Smith firing a handgun at police before being fatally shot, authorities said.
Three officers -- Cody Stroud, Samantha Thompson and John Blankenship -- all fired their weapons at Smith, police said in January.
After the shooting, Stroud, Thompson and Blankenship were placed on paid administrative leave, per department policy. All three are now back at work, police spokesman Carmen Helton said Wednesday.
The Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office found that the officers' use of deadly force was justified, said John Johnson, chief deputy prosecuting attorney, in an interview Tuesday. He said a letter informing the department of the decision was sent on March 12.
At a news conference days after the shooting, North Little Rock Police Chief Mike Davis said there had been a "great deal of misinformation" spread on social media about the gunfire. The dash-camera video, he said, needed to be released because of that misinformation.
"I fear that misinformation gets out that says the subject wasn't armed, that the subject didn't shoot," he said, adding "that is not the case."
The released footage shows the lead-up to the shooting but cuts off shortly after Smith is shot.
On Jan. 7, Smith was in a vehicle that was pulled over by authorities, according to a statement from the department.
According to Davis, police expressed concern about the "nervousness" of the driver while speaking with him.
Authorities said a gun and a small bag of marijuana were found on Smith during a pat-down search.
The footage shows two people sitting on the curb as an officer's voice is heard off camera.
"Ain't nothing but a little bit of weed, man. Like for real, like if you tell us," the officer says. The sentence is cut short, followed a second later by police telling the person not to reach.
"[I] ain't gonna find nothing else in here, right?" the officer is hear saying on the footage. "Quit reaching, partner."
According to the chief, Smith tried to "gain control" of a firearm and flee, and police took him to the ground. On the video, Smith enters the frame as an officer takes him to the ground.
"I can't go to jail," the teenager says on the ground, the footage shows.
"Get your f * * * ing hand out," an officer says as the struggle continues. "It's a f * * * ing gun."
During the struggle, according to police, Smith pulled a firearm from his waistband and fired one shot that almost hit the two people sitting on the curb.
Seconds later, the video shows Smith firing at officers.
About one second later, police open fire at Smith, according to the video. Authorities pronounced him dead at the scene.
"It certainly corroborated the statements of the police officers," Johnson said of the dash-camera footage.
Information for this article was contributed by Emma Pettit of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Brandon Riddle of Arkansas Online.
Metro on 05/10/2018