Man who fought with police in street pleads guilty to aggravated assault

A Hot Springs man charged with felony assault for fighting with police last year after causing a disturbance at a local business pleaded guilty Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court.

Ronald Earl Gibson, 37, who had remained in custody since his arrest Dec. 19, 2018, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and was sentenced to the maximum of six years in prison, with the entire sentence suspended, while additional misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest, public intoxication and disorderly conduct were withdrawn.

Gibson was also fined $500 and ordered to pay $420 in court costs and agreed to a warrant-less search waiver being put on file in his case.

According to the probable cause affidavit, on Dec. 19, shortly before 6 p.m., Hot Springs police Officer Tyler Cox responded to Roots Chiropractic, 1403 Central Ave., regarding a man with one leg on crutches being disorderly with patrons of the business. Officers had responded to the business twice before regarding the same suspect but were unable to locate him each time.

Cox located the suspect, identified as Gibson, traveling north on the west sidewalk of Central at its intersection with West St. Louis Street and told him he needed to speak with him since he matched the description of the disorderly person. Gibson said, "No, I am not going to stop," and walked into Central, almost being struck by two vehicles.

Cox followed Gibson to the turn lane on Central where he was about to start walking in the northbound lane of traffic. He told Gibson to stop because he was "impeding traffic and causing a danger to himself and others," but Gibson refused to stop. Cox noted traffic in the southbound lane was forced to stop as Gibson was in the middle of the roadway.

At that point, Cox told Gibson he was under arrest for disorderly conduct and Gibson reportedly stated, "You're not taking me to jail" and attempted to cross the northbound lanes. Cox grabbed his left arm to keep him from walking into traffic and told him to put his hands back to be cuffed. Cox noted Gibson appeared intoxicated.

Gibson pulled away and began screaming despite Cox's efforts to get him to sit down on the sidewalk so he could be handcuffed without injuring him due to him being on crutches. Gibson continued to resist and fell to the ground, stating, "You are not going to take me to jail. I am the prophet!"

While he was on the ground, Cox attempted to put Gibson's arms behind his back but he continued to pull away while screaming loudly, resisting for about four minutes before other officers arrived to assist.

Officer Thomas Plummer notes when he arrived both southbound lanes of Central were "at a standstill" with heavy traffic building up as Cox and two LifeNet responders were trying to take Gibson into custody while in the middle of the road. Plummer secured Gibson's right hand, moving it to his back, and throughout the movement Gibson clawed at Plummer's hands, scratching him with his nails hard enough to draw blood.

Once in custody, officers tried to move him out of the roadway as Gibson continued to shout he was a prophet and "spoke in tongues," telling officers it was a new language. He continued to struggle to get away and spit in Plummer's face at one point.

As Cox put him into his unit, Gibson said, "I am going to get away with this. Due to my condition, I am not capable of committing certain crimes." While en route to the jail, Gibson pulled out a small marijuana cigarette and lit it with a lighter and began to smoke it in the back of the unit.

Cox pulled over and took Gibson's lighter, but was unable to locate the cigarette. Once at the jail, Gibson continued to resist and refused to cooperate with the booking process so he had to be put in a holding cell.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges on March 5 and a mental evaluation was ordered on April 11. On Tuesday, he was found fit to proceed with trial and at that point he opted to plead guilty to the charge.

Local on 06/20/2019

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