Man charged for allegedly assaulting police officers
A Benton man is facing several charges for allegedly pointing a gun at several police officers, according to documents recently filed in Saline County Circuit Court.
On May 4, 2019, officers responded to a residence on Highway 229 in reference to an aggravated assault on a family or household member.
Eight officers in total responded to the home.
Willard Garner, 59, of Benton, reportedly exited the home with a gun in his right hand, according to court documents.
“Mr. Garner was pointing the firearm at all of the deputies with a left to right motion. Mr. Garner stated several times that he would kill us. We ordered Mr.
Garner to drop the weapon several times, but Mr. Garner would not and kept aiming the gun at us,” according to the court documents.
Eventually, Garner allegedly went back into the residence.
Using a police vehicle PA system, Saline County Sheriff’s Office deputies attempted to talk Garner into leaving the residence.
Later, Garner allegedly walked out of the back door of the residence with “one of his hands in the air” and “would not show his left
hand,” according to court documents.
A Saline County Sheriff’s Office Deputy reportedly deployed his Taser striking Garner.
“Garner fell to the floor and then complied with deputies’ commands,” according to the court documents.
Medical personnel was called to the scene to check Garner for injuries and remove the Taser prongs.
Law enforcement reportedly located two firearms inside the residence. A gun with 19 rounds of hollow
point bullets and one bullet in the chamber was located in a bedroom and a Ruger LCR .38-caliber pistol was located in a different bedroom.
During the course of an investigation, deputies spoke with a woman who reported Garner threatened her with a firearm.
The woman reported when she arrived at the residence, she noticed that Garner was allegedly drinking vodka. When she spoke with him about the vodka, “he became violent and pulled a gun and stuck it to her head,” according to court documents.
The woman added that Garner allegedly “threw her on the floor and stuck the gun to her head again. She further stated that he stuck the gun to her head at least five more times,” the officer noted in a police report.
He also reportedly pinned her down and would not allow her to contact law personnel.
He reportedly told the victim that if she contacted police he would kill her and the police.
“It was about 45 minutes before she saw the first chance, she had to run out the door and ran toward the interstate,” according to court documents.
After running away, the victim came in contact with a Bryant police officer.
Garner is facing 18 Class D felonies for terroristic threatening and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and a Class C felony for false imprisonment.