LR police officer is accused of ’19 domestic battery

Incident with woman alleged

A Little Rock police officer was arrested on a domestic violence charge Thursday in connection with an October incident during which a woman said he repeatedly threw and pinned her.

Jonathan Walker, 27, faces one count of third-degree domestic battery. He has been on leave since the investigation started in October, according to a news release, and an internal investigation by the department is ongoing.

Little Rock police responded Oct. 13 to a report of an assault, according to a police report.

Investigators at the scene heard conflicting stories from Walker and the woman involved.

The woman told police she and Walker got into a fight, according to the report, and he threw her on a couch multiple times and held her down.

She said she pushed Walker off of her and he began to chase and grab after her, the report states. She threw a change jar at him and pointed a screwdriver at him “in self-defense,” she told officers, according to the report.

Walker then picked her up once again and threw her on the ground, she said, pinning her.

When he let her go, the woman called her mother to tell her about what happened, the report said. Officers noticed small scrapes and bruising on her temple, left and right arms and right knee as well as a scratch on her left leg.

Walker told officers a different account of what had happened. He said he and the woman got into an argument and she began to swing at him, scratching him.

He said he grabbed and restrained the woman in a bear hug on the couch. When she got up, the woman threw a change jar at him and grabbed a screwdriver “in an attempt to stab him,” Walker told police.

Walker told police the woman called her mother and threatened to shoot him before going for his gun belt. He said he held her back.

The woman admitted to police she did say she would shoot him but said she never reached for his gun, according to the report.

Police noted in the report a scrape on Walker’s chest and scratch marks on his neck.

It was unclear who was the aggressor in the incident at first, police said, so no arrests were initially made.

A warrant for Walker’s arrest was served Thursday after the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney’s office reviewed the police investigation.

Walker is at least the third Little Rock police officer arrested in 2020, the second on a domestic violence-related offense.

Jasmine Reynolds was arrested Jan. 5 on a charge of driving while intoxicated in Texas.

John Brawley was arrested Jan. 8 on a charge of third-degree assault on a family or household member.