A local man arrested earlier this year for having a shotgun in his vehicle on the Lake Hamilton School District campus pleaded guilty Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Alexander George Gilliana, 21, pleaded guilty to possession of a gun on school property, punishable by up to six years in prison, and was sentenced to four years, with two years' suspended, fined $250 and ordered to pay $420 in court costs.
According to reports, on Feb. 10, around 2:30 p.m. Garland County sheriff's Deputy Richard Huffman was dispatched to the campus regarding a vehicle in the lot that was involved in a "road rage" incident earlier in the day and the driver being "very disorderly."
On arrival, Huffman, Arkansas State Police Trooper Jorge Oseguera and Deputy Shane Tatum were met at the scene by campus security officer Robert Sorenson, 52, and the suspect, identified as Gilliana.
Huffman asked Gilliana why he was at the school, and he stated he was there to pick up his girlfriend. Huffman asked about the earlier incident and Gilliana stated he pulled in front of a vehicle and was driving slow and the occupants of the other vehicle got mad.
He said he pulled into the parking lot of the McDonald's on Airport Road to let his passengers out, and the others followed him and reportedly threatened to "kick his a - -" if he did it again.
He said the other vehicle left and he followed them "to let them know they can't talk to him like that," the report states. He followed the vehicle to New Horizons, the Lake Hamilton alternative school, and then left, he said.
Gilliana gave consent to search his vehicle, a white 2001 Jeep, and told the deputies he had a shotgun in the vehicle. A 12-gauge shotgun with four rounds in the barrel was found under the back seat along with two boxes of 12-gauge rounds and four knives, the report states, so he was taken into custody.
According to a statement released later by Lake Hamilton Superintendent Steve Anderson, the road rage incident involved New Horizons students returning from National Park Technical Center that resulted in a lockdown order being issued for the New Horizons building that afternoon. Anderson was notified of Tuesday's plea agreement with Gilliana.
Gilliana was later released on $2,500 bond pending trial, which was set for this week in circuit court.
Since his arrest on the possession charge, Gilliana was arrested again on Oct. 20 after he allegedly ran over another man, 44, in his vehicle on the victim's property in the 200 block of Browning Drive shortly after 6 p.m. that day.
Gilliana was taken into custody about an hour later and charged with second-degree battery, punishable by up to six years in prison. That charge is still pending against Gilliana in circuit court.
• A local man was sentenced to prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to a burglary charge from earlier this year and a vehicle theft charge from early last year.
Mark Antony Ward, 49, pleaded guilty to residential burglary and was sentenced to 12 years in prison and theft of property more than $5,000 and was sentenced to three years in prison, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Ward, who has remained in custody since his last arrest May 17, also admitted his status as a habitual offender having been previously convicted in 2013 in Montgomery County for residential burglary, possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia.
According to the affidavit on the theft charge, a man reported his 2004 Toyota Matrix stolen from the parking lot at Oaklawn, 2705 Central Ave., on Nov. 20, 2012. Hot Springs police reviewed security video and could allegedly see Ward and a female accomplice, 48, exiting Oaklawn together and then walking to Ward 's Chevrolet Blazer.
The female drove the Blazer with Ward in the passenger seat and they pulled over to where the victim's car was parked. Ward is seen getting out of his vehicle and getting into the victim's car and then drove off with the female following him in the Blazer.
The female later voluntarily came to the police department to talk with detectives after learning she was a suspect in the theft. She told them Ward had offered to give her a ride home that day, but when they got ready to leave he asked her to drive his Blazer because he had to drive his mother's car home.
The car he indicated to her belonged to his mother was the one belonging to the victim, which was valued at $7,000.
Ward was arrested Jan. 7, 2013, and later released on $3,500 bond pending trial.
According to the affidavit on the burglary count, on May 17, shortly before 9 a.m., GCSD Deputy Ashley Collier was dispatched to a burglary in progress on Sunshine Road near North Moore Road and upon arrival spoke to the victim, 54, who stated he was informed someone was breaking into a residence he owns in the 5000 block of Sunshine.
He said he arrived to find an unknown white male removing a sofa from his residence and was briefly able to hold him at gunpoint until the suspect ran and jumped into a tan 1996 Chevrolet Blazer and fled the scene.
Collier and other deputies began searching the area for the vehicle, which was soon located abandoned and buried in mud behind a garage at 5600 Sunshine. Deputies set up a perimeter around the area and called for assistance from a Hot Springs police K-9 unit, which responded and picked up a track leaving the scene.
They were soon able to locate the suspect, identified as Ward, hiding in a thicket about 300 yards from where he abandoned the Blazer. He was taken into custody without further incident and admitted to being on the victim's property and being the driver of the Blazer.
The victim later identified Ward as the one he had seen removing his sofa that he had held at gunpoint.
Local on 12/18/2014