Lester McGowan, 42, of Heber Springs, was shot and killed just after noon Saturday when he tried to flee a security checkpoint for maximum-security Tucker Prison in Jefferson County, nearly running over a prison guard(s).
According to Department of Corrections Spokeswoman Dina Tyler, the checkpoint had been set up to deter and stop contraband from being smuggled into the prison. Guards at the checkpoint used drug-sniffing dogs to check vehicles as they entered the prison grounds.
The shooting took place when McGowan returned to the prison to pick up his brother’s girlfriend, whom he had dropped off earlier. When he returned, arriving at the checkpoint, guards ran his driver’s license and learned he was reportedly wanted for a parole revocation and for warrants out of Cleburne County for aggravated assault, a class “D” felony.
Tyler said the guards told McGowan he would have to get out of the vehicle. She said he put the car in reverse, hitting the vehicle of an assistant warden who had just arrived at the prison.
McGowan continued to drive recklessly, sliding around, as guards attempted to get out of his way. Tyler said the McGowan vehicle came very close to hitting the prison guards. At least one shot was fired into the vehicle’s rear window, hitting McGowan. The car came to rest against a fence.
Tyler said when officers went to check on him, he was slumped over. The Jefferson County Coroner pronounced McGowan dead at the scene.
The guard that fired the shot is on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of investigations by the Arkansas Department of Corrections and the Arkansas State Police.
McGowan was shot June 16 last year near Mud Cat Road after he reportedly became violent with Cleburne County detectives that were working a financial identity fraud case where he was the suspect. At that shooting, there was an altercation and struggle for the officers weapons resulting in McGowan being shot one time in the wrist and subdued with a taser.
In other news: Another teen has drowned at Greers Ferry Lake. A 14-year-old Judsonia boy drown Friday at Dam Site Park while swimming with friends. This is the second of such incidents in three weeks.
According to the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Department, Bill Miller Horton was at Trouble Island at the main Dam Site swim area when authorities were called around 11 a.m. for a possible drowning. When deputy’s arrived, they learned bystanders had pulled Horton from the water and CPR was in progress.
He was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in Heber Springs but could not be revived.
A 37-year-old Cleburne County man was arrested Sunday after reportedly firing gunshots at another male and being tasered.
Cleburne County law enforcement responded to Concord Sunday after Billy Tanner, 44, called to report he had been in a verbal argument with a male and the man ended up firing gunshots in Tanners direction while they were in Independence County.
Detective John Ed Hendricks, Canine Officer Willie Baker, Concord Marshal Robbie Cooper, and Grassy Township Constable James Tate drove to a home on Nicholson Road near Floral in Cleburne County to talk with the suspect.
When they arrived they found the suspect hiding in a crawl space under the mobile home on the property. He was ordered out from under the trailer and to show his hands. He reportedly lifted up his shirt, revealing a handgun. The suspect started to curse the officers, walking toward them, and not following their commands to get on the ground.
Baker shot the suspect with a taser and Hendricks placed the suspect in handcuffs.
He was taken to the Cleburne County Jail and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Information on the shooting was reportedly turned over to authorities in Independence County, but they had no record of the incident.
A 22-year-old Lonoke man was arrested over the weekend for driving under the influence of alcohol. His alcohol level was reportedly four times the legal limit at .322.
Cleburne County Deputy Floyd Guynes approached a vehicle stuck in a wooded area just off the pavement near the gatehouse at Dam Site Park and spoke with the driver. The driver asked where he was.
The deputy noticed an open container of beer in the car and that the driver had a strong odor of alcohol. The driver was asked to step out of the vehicle and reportedly had a very hard time standing.
He was taken to the Cleburne County Jail and given a Breathalyzer with the .322 result. He was charged with DWI and driving off a laned road.
On June 11 Laura Price, 27, was arrested by Heber Springs police for disregarding a traffic control device, driving on a suspended license, and DWI.
After her arrival at the Cleburne County Detention Facility Price was also served with an arrest warrant for delivery of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) a class “Y” felony.
The delivery charge is the product of a joint effort between Cleburne County Narcotics and Heber Springs Criminal Investigation Division.
