Hot Springs man arrested after crash

A Hot Springs Police Department patrol unit is shown outside the department in this 2022 file photo. (The Sentinel-Record/File photo)

HOT SPRINGS -- A man was arrested on drunken driving and other charges early Thursday after a police officer followed a trail of fluids from the scene of a wreck to the man's home.

Shortly after 1:30 a.m., a Hot Springs officer investigating a report of a wreck found pieces of a bumper that were determined to belong to a vehicle that had struck a tree on Crestwood Street, police said.

The officer followed a trail of fluids to a home on the street, where he found a Cadillac Escalade with heavy front-end damage, police said.

The officer noted that the driver's-side door and the door to the home were both standing open, and a rifle and handgun were visible inside the vehicle.

Paul Albert Watt Jr., 37, who police said admitted to drinking that morning and striking a tree on his way home from an adult entertainment club, was arrested at the home on charges of possession of a firearm by certain persons, driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage. He was also cited for careless and prohibited driving.

  photo  Paul Albert Watt Jr. (Submitted photo)