PB standoff ends with man’s arrest

A Pine Bluff man was arrested Thursday night after an almost six-hour standoff during which he took his 15-year-old nephew hostage and threatened to kill him, according to a news release from the Pine Bluff Police Department.

Mark Franklin, 33, was being held Friday in the Jefferson County jail. He faces charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by certain persons.

Police said Franklin went to his sister’s home on Mayberry Street about 4:45 p.m. Thursday and got into an argument and a physical altercation with his sister. Franklin ended up taking his nephew at gunpoint and fleeing, according to the news release.

Police began a search for Franklin, who eventually contacted family members by cellphone and told them that he would kill the boy if he saw police, according to the release.

Using unmarked cars and plainclothes officers, police set up a perimeter around a family member’s residence at 5818 Sulphur Springs Road and monitored Franklin and his nephew sitting inside Franklin’s 2004 Ford Mustang, which was parked in the driveway, the release said.

Attempts by a police negotiator to make contact with Franklin were unsuccessful, but about 10:40 p.m. a family member persuaded Franklin to release the boy.

Pine Bluff SWAT team members took Franklin into custody without incident.