An Arkansas deputy was stabbed Tuesday morning while trying to arrest a naked man walking along a highway, authorities said.
According to a news release from the Johnson County sheriff's office, Detective Buddy Beavers responded to a call of a naked man near Arkansas 352 and 164 north of Coal Hill shortly after 7:30 a.m. Beavers was stabbed "a couple of times" in the left arm and leg while arresting 24-year-old Mitchel Ace Salito, Sheriff Larry Jones said.
The detective was treated at Johnson Regional Medical Center and is back on duty, authorities said.
Salito, who is from Ozark, was being held in the Johnson County jail Wednesday afternoon, records show. Although jail records showed that he was being held on aggravated assault and failure to pay fines charges, Jones said the assault charge had been upped to second-degree battery. His bail was set at $2,306.
Court documents reveal that this is not Salito's first encounter with law enforcement. After an October 2016 incident in which Salito punched a Franklin County deputy in the face, the 24-year-old was prosecuted for second-degree battery, according to an arrest warrant and other documents.
Salito was sentenced to four years of probation and 45 days of confinement and ordered to pay $1,820 in fines and fees in that case, a sentencing order shows.
NW News on 09/27/2018