Sheriff’s jury trial delayed again

WALDRON — The jury trial for the Scott County sheriff who is charged in connection with an arrest last year has once again been delayed.

Randy Shores’ jury trial is now set to take place at 9: 30 a.m. March 13 in the Scott County Circuit Court in Waldron, according to court records. The trial had previously been moved to Tuesday from its original date of Jan. 17.

Shores’ attorney, Rex Chronister, filed a motion for continuance in the case Feb. 3, court records state. Circuit Judge Jerry Ramey granted the continuance Tuesday.

Arkansas State Police arrested Shores, 62, Sept. 30 on a warrant for two counts of accomplice to third-degree battery, a class A misdemeanor. It was in connection with physical injury Omar Gonzalez caused as a Waldron police officer during the arrest of Robert Deer of Van Buren on Feb. 16, 2022. Gonzalez was arrested on a warrant for three counts of third-degree battery the same day.

Both men waived formal arraignment and pleaded not guilty to their charges in November, according to court records.

Gonzalez entered a negotiated guilty plea to one count of third-degree battery Feb. 14, court records state. He was sentenced to pay a $1,000 fine and $250 in standard court costs. Gonzalez’s remaining two charges were dismissed in accordance with his plea agreement.

John Rhone, a special agent with Arkansas State Police, wrote in Shores’ arrest affidavit that Shores saw Gonzalez hit Deer on the head several times and sling him while handcuffed into the front of Deer’s van headfirst, according to body camera videos Huntington and Mansfield police officers recorded at the scene.

Gonzalez, 39, resigned from his position as sergeant May 2, according to Police Chief Jeremy Hunt. Paperwork was sent to the state Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training to decertify Gonzalez.

Shores