A report of a shot fired at a vacant house resulted in the arrest early Sunday of a reportedly homeless man located at the scene after drugs were allegedly found in his possession.
Japin Mandel Scales, 42, who lists "city streets" as his residence, was taken into custody shortly before 5 a.m. and charged with a felony count of possession of a controlled substance, meth, punishable by up to six years in prison, and misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing governmental operations.
Scales, who also had a warrant for failure to comply, was being held on a $6,500 bond and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court. According to court records, he was convicted on Oct. 12, 2022, of misdemeanor counts of first-degree criminal mischief and theft of services and was fined $1,105 and sentenced to one year of probation. A warrant for failure to comply with court orders was later issued.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Hot Springs police Officer Blake Forga responded to a vacant house in the 100 block of Shadow Terrace regarding a report of a possible shot fired from inside the house.
After arriving on the scene, officers reportedly saw a Black male, later identified as Scales, coming out from the lower portion of the house. Initially, Scales allegedly provided false information about his identity, but after further investigation he was identified and it was determined he had the warrant for his arrest.
In searching Scales after taking him into custody, officers allegedly found a glass vial in his pants pocket that contained .06 grams of what later tested positive for meth, and a glass smoking pipe "commonly used to smoke meth."