Felony charges for man after he allegedly spit on officers

JONESBORO, Ark. – A bad situation was made much worse early Thursday in Jonesboro when a man allegedly spit at several officers during a traffic stop, according to police.

It actually began as a 911 call from a man who said a suspect vehicle, a black Dodge Charger, was following him. The man had been sitting behind the vehicle as it blocked the road but the occupants of the Charger apparently became agitated and followed behind him after he passed them. He said they were yelling at him and it sounded like they were going to assault him.

At 2:02 AM, dispatchers sent officers to the 400-block of West Washington Avenue. Cpl. Heath Loggains located the vehicles and  along with Officer Paul Williams, began the traffic stop. Two men occupied the vehicle: Lebronze Jermaine Crowder, 23, the driver, and Deangelo Patton, 27, the passenger. The police report states that Loggains was explaining the stop to the driver when Deangelo began to speak over them. Loggains asked him for his ID multiple times and after not getting it, asked the other officer to place him in handcuffs.

“He became extremely irate and began to use abusive and foul language toward all officers on scene,” Williams reported. “I began to escort Arrestee #1 (Patton, Deangelo) toward my police unit, and as we walked past officers standing at the back of the charger, Arrestee #1 (Patton, Deangelo) spit in their direction. I later learned that his saliva had struck Victim #1 and Victim #2.”

The two unnamed victims were both police officers. Patton was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, a felony. In addition, he was charged with obstruction of a governmental operation. He also had two failure to appear warrants for his arrest. He was booked into Craighead County Detention Center at 2:45 AM.

patton
Deangelo Patton. Source: CCDC

As this was happening, a silver SUV pulled up. Cpl. Loggains reported a male, Jarvis Patton, got out of the vehicle and was yelling at officers. He was arrested for disorderly conduct.

The driver of the Dodge Charger in the traffic stop, Crowder, was arrested for driving on a suspended license.

Crowder and Jarvis have both been released from jail as of this article. However, Deangelo remains in custody of CCDC.

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