Museum’s chief gets date for assault trial

FORT SMITH — A jury trial for the president and CEO of the U.S. Marshals Museum has been set for the week of July 5.

Sebastian County Circuit Judge Stephen Tabor will preside over the trial of Patrick Weeks, 53, of Fort Smith, county Prosecuting Attorney Dan Shue said Tuesday.

Weeks was arraigned on two counts of aggravated assault, a class D felony, Dec. 30, Shue said. He has pleaded innocent.

A preliminary hearing in district court for Weeks had been set for Tuesday, according to Shue. However, the case was dismissed in the Fort Smith District Court on Friday and refiled in Sebastian County Circuit Court on Monday.

Two utility workers reported Weeks pointed a gun at them Dec. 21, according to police. Weeks was arrested and released from the Sebastian County jail on a $6,000 bond early Dec. 22.

The Marshals Museum’s board decided Dec. 23 to put Weeks on administrative leave until the charges are resolved, according to Chairman Doug Babb. Babb wouldn’t comment on whether the leave is paid.

Two men told police Dec. 21 they were repairing streetlights for Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. at 3205 S. 28th St., when Weeks wouldn’t allow them into his yard to make repairs, an arrest report said. The men reported they were sitting in their truck when Weeks approached them with a pistol and pointed it at them.

The men drove around the corner, but Weeks followed while pointing the pistol at them, according to the report. They left the area and called police.

Officers arrived about 3 p.m. and spoke with Weeks in his home, the report says. They found Weeks sitting in a chair with a pistol on the armrest matching the utility workers’ description of the weapon.

The museum hired Weeks in 2016. Weeks worked as head of the Dublin, Ohio-based museum exhibit consulting firm Strategic Experience Solutions before moving to Fort Smith.