Drug raid shooting reviewed; twin held

Officer remains on paid leave Police said St. Clair faces a charge of aggravated assault, and additional charges are likely.

Little Rock police and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office continued investigating Friday after a police officer shot a man a day earlier while searching a home for drugs.

A special weapons and tactics officer shot Lloyd St. Clair, 59, at St. Clair’s residence at 3220 King Road after officers executed a narcotics search warrant at the address about 6:30 a.m. Thursday. The Pulaski County sheriff’s office, which assisted police in the operation, said officers encountered St. Clair in a utility building on the 5-acre property and shot him after he refused to drop a gun.

St. Clair, who was said to be shot in the shoulder and hip, remained hospitalized at UAMS Medical Center late Friday. His injuries were not life-threatening.

Police said St. Clair faces a charge of aggravated assault, and additional charges are likely.

The officer who shot St. Clair remained on paid administrative leave Friday as the department investigated whether the officer’s use of deadly force was justified. Officer Richard Hilgeman, a spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department, said the department will release the officer’s name next week.

Police reported finding 2.1 grams of methamphetamine; 4.4 grams of marijuana; two amphetamine tablets; three pills of alprazolam, an antianxiety drug commonly known as Xanax; scales and three guns at the property, which is just north of Sweet Home in a rural area off Arkansas 365, about 2 miles southeast of the Interstate 30/Interstate 440 interchange. The residence has a Little Rock address, but it’s on a county road patrolled by the Sheriff’s Office.

An arrest report states that police arrested St. Clair’s twin brother, Floyd St. Clair, during the raid. He was charged with four counts of possession of a controlled substance; possession of drug paraphernalia; maintaining a drug premises; possession of a firearm by certain persons; and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms.

Floyd St. Clair pleaded not guilty in the case Friday morning in Little Rock District Court. Judge Alice Lightle set bail at $5,000. Floyd St. Clair had posted bond and been released from the Pulaski County jail by Friday afternoon.

Floyd St. Clair resides at 3108 King Road, next door to his brother’s home, according to the arrest report.

Unlike his brother, whose only criminal conviction was a misdemeanor public intoxication case in 1981, Floyd St. Clair is a felon who has been under state supervision since February 2014, according to court records.

That’s when he negotiated a guilty plea to two counts of possession of a controlled substance and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to five years of probation in the case. One of the terms of his probation allows an Arkansas Department of Community Correction officer to search his residence, without a warrant, at any time. In the latest case against Floyd St. Clair, his next court appearance has been set for Nov. 2.