JONESBORO, Ark. – A man under the influence of some type of controlled substance, as described by a police officer, dragged his two small children into a flooded ditch as they cried and sustained cuts to their legs Monday in Jonesboro. It all happened as a code enforcement officer looked on.
Shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, August 7, Jonesboro Police Department responded to the intersection of Collins Road and Flemon Road. The call was a strange one – an intoxicated man running with his two children. Officer Jeremy Wheelis arrived to find Lester Jeffery Corbett, 56, hiding in the water inside a rice field, the report said. Wheelis yelled at him and Corbett came to the road – albeit while stumbling and having trouble standing.
Wheelis speculated he was on some type of controlled substance. Corbett said he had several pain pills he has a prescription for, but a witness, the mother of the two children, she indicated he might be on methamphetamine, the report said. Officer Susan Gray with JPD said he appeared to be “heavily under the influence.” She also said nothing he said made sense.
Corbett told police he was talking a walk with his kids and was going to teach them about “deep wells.” He said they were only wading in the water and that he was swimming (?). 
However, a code enforcement officer was witness to the entire event and said the suspect was dragging his children across the road into the ditch as at least one of them cried. They had scraps and cuts on their legs from being dragged, Gray reported.
(Editor’s note – The report does NOT indicate the code officer did nothing as these events transpired. The narrative simply does not say what happened, at all, during this period. Please use caution with conjecture regarding these details).
The witness said he is bi polar and said he has not been himself, lately.
A report was faxed to the Child Abuse Hotline.
Corbett was arrested for endangering the welfare of a minor and public intoxication. He was taken to Craighead County Detention Center. He was released at 10:32 p.m. Monday night.
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