Battery suspect jumps in lake, detained
A Malvern man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly assaulting two Garland County Sheriff’s deputies with a stick and fleeing into a nearby lake.
Rodney Todd Pennington, 46, was taken into custody at 4 p.m. and charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault, two counts of second-degree battery and fleeing, each punishable by up to six years in prison. He was also charged with misdemeanor counts of third-degree domestic battery, third-degree battery and refusal to submit to arrest, each punishable by up to one year in jail.
Pennington remained in custody Thursday on zero bond for the domestic battery charge and bonds totaling $14,500 on the other counts and is set to appear Sept. 12 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, at 3:45 p.m., Deputies Jon Lane and Roy Elliott responded to 110 Bayou Point in reference to a domestic battery. While the deputies were exiting their patrol unit, Pennington allegedly charged at them, yelling that he was not going to jail, and would not listen to the deputies. They asked Pennington to calm down and place his hands on the unit, but he refused and walked away.
As deputies followed him, he turned towards them in an aggressive manner and Lane drew his taser ordering him to stop and get on the ground. After refusing to comply and making aggressive movements towards the deputies, Lane deployed his taser, which did not affect the suspect.
Pennington then punched Elliott in the jaw, injuring him, and then pushed both deputies off him and fled into the woods. He picked up a “very large stick” and swung it at the deputies. Lane and Elliott drew their weapons and told him to stop and drop the stick at which point Pennington turned around and dropped it.
He was told multiple times to get on the ground, but ran down an embankment and jumped into the lake. He swam to a nearby dock where Arkansas State Police finally took him into custody.