Man arrested after dispute involving gun

HOT SPRINGS — A man was arrested Thursday after allegedly threatening a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint during a confrontation in the street.

Brian Griffin, 55, was taken into custody shortly after 4 a.m. and charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, punishable by up to six years in prison.

Griffin was being held on a $2,500 bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.

According to the probable cause affidavit, around 4 a.m. Thursday, police were sent to the intersection of Fifth and South streets regarding a disturbance in progress.

Officers saw two females and two males arguing and spoke to one woman who said one of the men, identified as Griffin, had pointed a gun at the other female, who is 15. Officers spoke with the other male, who is 17, and the 15-year-old girl who confirmed Griffin pointed a gun at the girl.

The girl and witnesses said they were standing near Griffin’s vehicle when Griffin “got upset about missing money” and began yelling at the adult female. Another man walked to them, and Griffin pointed the gun at the man, who fled the scene.

The 15-year-old attempted to grab Griffin’s arm holding the gun to stop him, prompting Griffin to turn toward her and began yelling at her and waving the gun around, they all said. Then Griffin pointed the gun at her as she began backing away.

When questioned, Griffin initially denied having a weapon, then claimed it was “just a BB gun.”

A Little Rock Fire Department firefighter works Tuesday to put out a car fire on the northbound side of Interstate 530 near the Interstate 30 and Interstate 440 exchange after the car left the highway and ended up down a hill in the trees. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staton Breidenthal)