FORT SMITH -- Former Crawford County sheriff's deputy Zackary King pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of deprivation of rights in connection with an arrest that was caught on video and went viral on social media.
"I think under the circumstances it was a close call, and I mean the case was arguably beatable," said one of King's lawyers, William O. James. "But you never know how these cases are gonna go, and in the current climate, we thought that this was a safe way to proceed and to make sure that Officer King would be able to go on and live his life without having a felony."
King can be sentenced to up to one year in a correctional facility, given a fine or both, James said. There is not a set date for the sentencing hearing.
Court records say King appeared before Magistrate Judge Mark E. Ford via teleconference at 3 p.m. Monday to make his guilty plea after filing the change of plea order April 4.
King and two others -- Mulberry Police Department officer Thell Riddle and former sheriff's deputy Levi White -- were put in the national spotlight after a video went viral on social media of the trio arresting Randal Worcester on Aug. 21, 2022.
The video depicted Riddle holding Worcester down on the ground while King and White repeatedly hit and kicked him. The incident occurred outside the Kountry Xpress convenience store in Mulberry. Both former deputies were arrested Jan. 24, 2023 and released on $5,000 bonds.
King and White had been fired from the Sheriff's Office for "excessive use of force" in September 2022 prior to their arrests. King had worked at the Crawford County Sheriff's Office since January 2018. White had worked there since January 2022.
White has a jury trial set for May 6. White and King filed a motion to sever defendants in September, allowing them to have separate trials.
Riddle is not facing charges and has been reinstated on the police force.
Cindy Murphy, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, has said the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training would set a hearing on White's and King's certification once their criminal charges have been adjudicated.
Worcester, 28, of Goose Creek, S.C., was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree battery, resisting arrest, possessing an instrument of crime, obstructing governmental operations and disorderly conduct in connection with the incident. He is awaiting trial, currently set for July 29.
Jimmy Damante, Crawford County's then-sheriff, said Aug. 25, 2022, that Worcester was reported to have threatened a woman with a knife at Sargent's gas station off Interstate 40 in Alma on Aug. 21, 2022, then spit on the woman and left by bicycle.
King, White and Riddle encountered Worcester shortly afterward in Mulberry, according to Damante.