Taser used for fi rst time

Using a taser Sunday night avoided serious injury to both the suspect and police. It was the fi rst time a taser had been used by Pea Ridge Police, who have had the tasers about six weeks.

During the course of an assault investigation, a man charged at police with fists raised. The man, Conan Guthary, 28, of Pea Ridge, was ultimately arrested for aggravated assault and resisting arrest.

“By the o◊cer being able to deploy the taser, they were able to arrest a combative suspect with little to no injury to the suspect or o◊cers,” Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said. The tasers were a gift from Rogers Police; o◊cers were trained in taser use by a certified trainer from the Benton County Sheri◊’s O◊ce.

Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Sunday, police were notified by a resident of Weston Loop that he had been assaulted by Guthary.

The victim stated he and his girlfriend were walking to their home on Weston Loop from Mc-Donalds when Guthary attackedhim as they were walking past Kings Lane. He said Guthary threw him on the ground, hit and choked him. He said he was fearful for his life.

After questioning the victim and a witness, police went to Guthary’s apartment on Kings Lane. Initially, no one answered the knock at the door. According to the report, a female finally answered the door but said Guthary was not there. She refused to allow police into the apartment and refused to come outside. Police said the woman, Ariel Raven Sturgill, screamed and tried to close the door on police. Police said they saw a male “rushing from a back room … with chest bowed up, both hands clinched into fi sts, in a fighting stance as he was running towards us,” according to the report.

At that point, because of the position of an o◊cer and Sturgill, the second o◊cer could not keep the man back and deployed the taser over his partner’s shoulder striking Guthary in the chest. Police said Guthary grabbed one of the wires, broke it and continued to resist. He was taken to the ground where he continued to resist. Police used a “drive stun” deploying the taser directly to the man’s back, at which time he submitted to arrest.

Pea Ridge Fire/EMS Department medical personnel removed the probes and checked the man’s condition before he was arrested.

Sturgill, 20, Pea Ridge, was arrested for obstructing governmental operations and released with a citation.