BENTONVILLE -- A Rogers man was placed on probation and sentenced to jail time after admitting to shooting a neighbor who was wearing a bullet-resistant vest.
Charles Eugene Ferris, 51, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a certain person.
Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green accepted the plea agreement and Ferris' guilty plea. Ferris' attorney, Lee Warden, reached the agreement with Tyler Hawkins, a deputy prosecutor.
Ferris was placed on five years of state-supervised probation and sentenced to 27 days in the Benton County Jail.
Benton County sheriff's deputies began investigating the case after receiving information about a man being shot multiple times while wearing a bullet-resistant vest, according to a probable cause affidavit.
A sheriff's deputy interviewed Ferris on March 31, 2019, at Mercy Hospital in Rogers, according to the affidavit. Ferris said he was shot six times, once in the chest and five times in the back, while protecting a man he called his "asset," according the affidavit said.
Ferris' wife, Leslie, contradicted his story, according to the affidavit. She said her husband was on the deck of their house at 21412 Deer Run Lane in Rogers. She said Ferris was drinking with Christopher Hicks, their neighbor, when she heard a gunshot, the affidavit said.
She went outside and saw that her husband had a mark on his chest, according to the affidavit.
Ferris admitted he made up the story about protecting someone because he claimed that he did not want to get Hicks in trouble, the affidavit said.
Ferris said he and Hicks were on the deck drinking, according to the affidavit. Ferris was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and told Hicks to shoot him, it said.
Ferris claimed Hicks shot one time, the affidavit said, and the bullet hit the top left corner of Ferris' chest. Ferris said it hurt, according to the affidavit.
Hicks then put on the vest, authorities said. Ferris claimed he was angry about getting shot, and he "unloaded the clip" with the remaining five rounds into Hicks' back, according to the affidavit. None of the rounds penetrated the vest, the affidavit said.
Deputies seized the rifle and vest, according to the affidavit.
Hicks, 37, of Rogers was arrested in connection with aggravated assault. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 13 in Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren's court.
NW News on 01/07/2020