Shots fired call leads to felony charges filed against caller

James Chandler Meece - Submitted photo
James Chandler Meece - Submitted photo

A local felon who called to report he was being shot at was arrested Thursday morning after he was allegedly found in possession of a stolen vehicle and meth and had active warrants.

James Chandler Meece, 30, who lists a Raithwood Road address, was taken into custody shortly before 10 a.m. and charged with felony counts of theft by receiving over $5,000, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and possession of a controlled substance, meth, punishable by up to six years.

Meece, who also had warrants for failure to appear and failure to pay, was being held on a $7,000 bond and was set to appear Friday in Garland County District Court. Meece was previously convicted in Garland County Circuit Court on June 5, 2012, of two counts of residential burglary and sentenced to five years' probation.

According to the probable cause affidavit, around 8:15 a.m. Thursday, Meece called the Garland County Sheriff's Office stating someone had shot at him while he was at 1442 Shady Grove Road.

Deputies arrived and made contact with Meece, who said the incident had taken place in the backyard at that residence next to a blue Jeep Renegade. He said the actors had left but they had fired one shot at him. During the conversation with Cpl. Jon Lane and Deputy Chandler Overton, Meece allegedly made a statement that he knew the Jeep was stolen.

Deputies checked and confirmed the Jeep had been reported stolen to Hot Springs police around 2:30 a.m. that same day. The vehicle's owner told police it had been stolen from the 1100 block of Greenwood Avenue and that he had spoken to Meece by phone and Meece admitted to taking the Jeep and told him he was not going to return it.

The affidavit notes the Jeep Renegade is valued at $12,874.

Deputies also determined Meece had warrants for his arrest so he was taken into custody. While deputies were patting him down, Overton located a small bag with 0.5 gram of what later tested positive for meth inside Meece's coin pocket.

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