Suspect in assault with arrow surrenders

A man turned himself in to the Crawford County sheriff’s office Tuesday in connection with an archery attack on another man after an argument early Monday morning.

A battery warrant was issued Monday for Kenneth Miesen, 42, after Raymond Van Holson, 41, was shot in the head with an arrow. Both men live in Chester, population 159.

After being shot, with the arrow still in his head, Holson drove 1.5 miles

home and called 911, Crawford County Sheriff Ron Brown said.

Holson was transported 35 miles by helicopter to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, where the arrow was removed, Brown said. He said Holson was in good condition afterward.

Brown said the arrow entered Holson’s head under the left ear, and the point exited his head under the right ear. The arrow didn’t penetrate the skull.

Brown said it was a “fullfledged arrow,” not a crossbow arrow. He said the arrow’s point was smooth and not a bladed point, known as a broadhead.

The sheriff said Holson and Miesen had been arguing over some property. Holson started to drive away when he heard something hit his vehicle, Brown said. He stopped, got out, saw Miesen “fiddling with something,” then left again, Brown said.

As Holson was driving away, an arrow went in the window of the vehicle, hitting him in the head, Brown said.

Brown said Miesen’s employer encouraged him to turn himself in.

Brown said Miesen was in the Crawford County jail in Van Buren on Tuesday afternoon with no bail set. He is scheduled to go before a judge today. The charges could be upgraded, the sheriff said.

Both men have felony criminal records. Miesen was found guilty of negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident in 2008 in Sebastian County.

According to an Aug. 23, 2007, article in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which cited a Fort Smith police report, Miesen was driving his girlfriend’s 1999 Mercury Tracer west on Division Street with Paul McAlister, 32, of Fort Smith in the passenger seat.

Miesen failed to stop at the Sixth Street intersection, drove through a car lot fence and struck several vehicles, according to the article. The Tracer caught fire. McAlister was killed in the crash.

Witnesses told police they saw a man running from the scene moments after the accident, according to the article. Police later found Miesen at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith.

He told officers he and McAlister had been drinking. Miesen said he remembered being in the car, the car stopping, and then waking up at the hospital, according to the article.

Miesen also had some misdemeanor convictions, including driving while intoxicated in 2012.

Holson was convicted of felony theft charges in 2014 and 2015. According to court filings, he stole more than $25,000 in property from the Arkansas Army National Guard and more than $30,000 worth of scrap metal from two businesses.

He was given a 20-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay $1,500 in fines and $92,952 in restitution.

In November, Prosecuting Attorney Marc McCune filed a petition to revoke the suspended sentence that claimed Holson had failed to make any payments and had received a stolen firearm in June, which is a felony.

Hearings are scheduled for June 7 in Holson’s sentence-revocation case and for June 12 in the firearms case.