A parolee sought on a felony theft warrant was soon facing a new charge following a traffic stop Wednesday after a loaded gun allegedly found in the vehicle was eventually connected to him.
Jeremy Dean Dover, 46, who lists a Clairmont Road address, was taken into custody shortly after noon and charged with a felony count of possession of a firearm by certain persons, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and served with the warrant for theft by receiving over $1,000, punishable by up to six years.
Dover remained in custody Thursday on a $7,500 bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to court records, Dover was convicted in Polk County on Jan. 9, 2017, of breaking or entering and sentenced to four years' probation; on May 2, 2017, in Montgomery County of aggravated assault and sentenced to six years in prison, all suspended; and on Sept. 20, 2018, in Garland County of residential burglary and sentenced to 12 years in prison, but was later paroled.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday, Hot Springs police Officers Tyler Ward and William Stockwell were patrolling near East Grand Avenue and Grove Street when they saw a black 2007 Ford Mustang with a license plate that returned to a different vehicle, so they stopped it in the 700 block of East Grand.
Officers made contact with the male driver, 72, and his passenger, later identified as Dover, and noted Dover was "trembling and fumbling with items" and seemed "extremely nervous." The driver initially claimed he didn't know Dover and was just giving him a ride.
The officers called for Officer Tifani McCauley and her K-9 partner, Patriot, to come to the scene to run a sniff on the vehicle for possible narcotics. A computer check of Dover showed he was on parole with a search waiver on file.
Dover was removed from the vehicle and reportedly stated, "There might be a BB gun in the bag." As they removed the driver, they asked him if there were any weapons and he reportedly stated, "He put a gun behind my seat."
Dover was taken into custody at that point and then the driver reportedly asked, "If I tell you the gun is mine, will it get him out of trouble?" As McCauley and Patriot were conducting a K-9 sniff of the vehicle, Stockwell was standing with Dover who reportedly stated he did not know who the gun belonged to, but then stated it was "his friend's gun."
Patriot alerted on the vehicle and officers reportedly retrieved a pistol pouch from behind the seat that reportedly contained a .22-caliber revolver loaded with six brass bullets. In a bag that had been between Dover's feet, they also found a brown BB gun that was unloaded.
At that point, the driver changed his story and stated he had just purchased the gun from Dover, according to the affidavit. After being read his rights, Dover allegedly claimed he had "no idea" there was a gun in the vehicle and he wouldn't have gotten in the vehicle if he knew it was there.
When confronted about the inconsistencies in his story, he refused to comment, it said.
While en route to the detention center, Dover reportedly stated he knew he was a convicted felon and was "not supposed to be around firearms."
According to the affidavit on the theft warrant, on Feb. 4, officers responded to Walmart, 1601 Albert Pike Road, regarding a theft where the suspects were seen on video driving a Toyota Corolla. The driver, identified as Dover, was arrested at that time for shoplifting.
The Corolla was towed at Walmart's request and a later check of the vehicle identification number revealed the vehicle, valued at $4,476, had been reported stolen out of Texarkana. A warrant for Dover's arrest was later issued.