By: Ray King
A report Wednesday that a man was walking in the area of Central Park with a handgun and extended magazine resulted in the arrest of the man and the recovery of the gun that had been reported stolen in January.
Jarvis Walters, 18, ran from police when he saw Violent Crimes Unit Officer Kevin Collins who chased Walters to the backyard of a house in the 2500 block of South Spruce Street before Walters dropped to the ground and was handcuffed.
Detective Aaron Robertson reported that Collins had received a call from Lt. Cassandra Briggs, who had received information that a male wearing a purple hoodie was walking west of 20th Avenue and South Hickory Street. As Collins arrived in the area, he was approached by a witness who said the male was walking west toward South Cypress Street. The witness said the male dropped a black handgun out of a black shoulder bag and the extended magazine came out of the gun. The witness said the man, later identified as Walters, put the extended magazine back in the gun and chambered a live round into the chamber, then looked backward over his shoulder. The witness said the male walked away with the gun in his hand and his finger on the trigger. There were children in the area at the time.
Collins saw the man walking south on South Spruce from West 24th Avenue with a black handgun with an extended magazine hanging out of the man’s pocket. When Collins turned the corner in his black unmarked Dodge Charger, the man put his hand on the handgun and turned toward Collins. When Collins turned on the blue lights on his police vehicle, the man pulled the gun out of his pocket and ran east toward several back yards with Collins’ chasing him.
The man dropped the gun while he was running, then picked it up and continued to run, despite Collins giving him several commands to stop. Briggs also arrived in the area and saw the man throw the gun into the backyard of a house where Walters was arrested and when it was recovered, a check with the Arkansas Crime Information Center/National Crime Information Center showed that the gun had been reported stolen in Quitman on Jan. 17.
On Friday, Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set a $10,000 bond for Walters after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge him with theft by receiving. Walters, who has no prior criminal history, said he would hire his own attorney.
