JONESBORO, Ark. – Early this morning, a Craighead County Deputy and his K9 partner came to the aide of Jonesboro police and helped apprehend a fleeing suspect.
At 2:34 AM, the Jonesboro Police Department radioed a vehicle pursuit on Parker Road in the city limits. Deputy Brock McFarlin was on Caraway Road and started toward their location. But while on the way, he heard the vehicle had stopped at the Perkins RV Park with the occupants bailing out of the vehicle and fleeing. McFarlin switched to assist on perimeter due to Jonesboro having a K9 in the area, too.
McFarlin went to Shelby Drive and noticed a male walking in front of Hijinx (formerly, Jonesboro Bowling Center). As the deputy went to make contact with the man, he fled, running to the south side of the building. The deputy began chasing him and as he rounded the corner, saw the suspect running through a fenced-in field.
“Stop or I will release my K9,” McFarlin shouted, he said in his report.
But the suspect continued running, the report states. So, Arko, his K9 partner, went to work. The deputy gave him the command to apprehend the suspect. Once the subject made it to the fence, he stopped, turned around and put his hands in the air to surrender.
McFarlin called Arko back to him and then reported giving commands to the suspect to lay on the ground. A Jonesboro officer arrived and the suspect was taken into custody and turned over to JPD.
Christopher Joe Petty, 36, of Jonesboro, was the man turned over to JPD.
After we received the JPD report, we learned Petty began the pursuit by not using his blinker on his black 2001 Dodge Ram. He was driving on a suspended license with expired tags. No surprise – he had no proof of insurance, either. But after he led police on a chase, he ended up with many more charges for speeding over 15 above the limit, improper turns, left of center, fleeing in a vehicle, fleeing on foot, and possession of meth. .1 grams of meth were found in a needle.
Three of the charges, the drugs, paraphernalia, and fleeing, are felonies.
The officer should have let the dog get in a few good bites at the very least. Jonesboro and surrounding area are overwhelmed with really rotten, amoral sociopaths of all ages and nothing is being done about it. Extra patrols are a joke when NOTHING IS BEING DONE ABOUT CRIME.