Former governor’s son arrested

BENTONVILLE — A son of former Gov. Asa Hutchinson was arrested Friday in connection with several charges.

William Asa Hutchinson III, 47, was arrested by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in connection with driving while intoxicated, second offense; possession of a controlled substance; refusal to submit to a chemical test; and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, a felony, according to the Sheriff’s Office website.

Hutchinson was being held in the Benton County Jail on Saturday with no bond set.

Details of the arrest were unavailable Saturday.

Hutchinson has been arrested several times in recent years. The most recent one prior to Friday’s arrest was in connection with DWI in Rogers in May 2019. Information on the outcome of that case was not available Saturday.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in December 2018 to 365 days in jail for a DWI charge from May 27, 2018, when he was found driving a 2017 GMC Yukon SUV southbound on Interstate 49 near West Fork, according to previous reports. He received credit for the one day he served in jail, and 364 days were suspended. Hutchinson also was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and $340 in court costs.

He had another DWI charge arising from a car accident Jan. 24, 2016, on Interstate 49 near Fayetteville, where he reportedly crashed his pickup into a guardrail just before 4 a.m. State police responding to the crash described Hutchinson’s eyes as “bloodshot and watery,” according to police reports.

Hutchinson pleaded not guilty.

In November 2017, a Fayetteville judge convicted Hutchinson for driving while intoxicated, careless and prohibited driving, and refusing to submit to a chemical test, but those charges were dismissed because of errors in citations.

Hutchinson’s father, William Asa Hutchinson II, served as Arkansas’ governor from 2015 until this month.