LR murder suspect faces weapons charge
A man facing a capital murder charge in Little Rock had a first appearance Wednesday on a federal weapons charge after Little Rock police discovered a Glock pistol fitted with a “Glock switch” full-auto conversion device following a chase by police Saturday.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Little Rock police tried to stop a blue 2023 Nissan Rogue after they saw the driver — later identified as Gary Bradley — nearly cause an accident when he made a lane change without signaling. After the vehicle took off, the affidavit said, officers gave chase but terminated it after it entered a residential neighborhood. Continuing to search for the vehicle, they saw it near West 24th and Jefferson streets in Little Rock and spotted Bradley fleeing on foot.
As they approached the vehicle, the affidavit said, they saw a Glock handgun in the driver’s side floorboard with a “Glock switch” affixed to the rear of the slide. Glock switches are used to convert Glock handguns to fire automatically with one pull of the trigger and are classified by the U.S. government as machine guns in and of themselves. With the assistance of a police dog, the affidavit said, officers located Bradley lying face-down in some nearby bushes with a purple backpack nearby that contained his identification along with quantities of suspected cocaine, suspected crack cocaine, suspected fentanyl, suspected marijuana and over $10,000 in cash.
Bradley, 23, of Little Rock, was reportedly free on $1 million bond on a 2019 arrest for capital murder over a fatal shooting in 2017 on Asher Avenue in Little Rock. On July 12, 2019, Bradley and another man — 34-year-old James Ruben Langford of Little Rock — were each charged with capital murder, terroristic act and first-degree battery in connection with a Aug. 14, 2017 shooting that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Michael Davis of Little Rock.
According to police, Davis was a front seat passenger in an Audi when someone passing them in a white vehicle opened fire, injuring all three of the vehicle’s occupants. At the time he was charged, Bradley, then 17, was in the Pulaski County jail being held on multiple unrelated charges.
On Wednesday, Bradley appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tricia Harris from the Pulaski County jail, where he is being held without bond on multiple state charges as well as a hold for U.S. marshals. Bradley was charged in a federal complaint with possession of fentanyl and cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of a machine gun and possession of a machine gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Harris appointed KenDrell Collins with the Federal Public Defenders Office to represent Bradley. During Wednesday’s brief hearing, Harris advised Bradley of the charges against him and of his rights. Collins waived a preliminary hearing on the matter and reserved Bradley’s right to a bond hearing at a later date.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Fields said the government would oppose any bond for Bradley. She pointed out that he is currently being held in state custody.