Union County justice of pease arrested after men shot at

By The Associated Press

EL DORADO — A Union County justice of the peace has been arrested for seven felony counts of aggravated assault, after a state police investigation found he fired an assault rifle at hunters in March.

Jack Reynolds, 55, of El Dorado was arrested Friday morning and was later released after posting a $25,000 cash-only bond. Reynolds also was ordered to surrender all of his firearms.

Court documents filed by prosecutors allege Reynolds confronted hunters John Gregory Booker and Earnest Hampton during a dispute March 12. The men told troopers they had permission to be on the land and were clearing a site to string a power line for a recreational vehicle when Reynolds approached them.

The men told troopers Reynolds began cursing at them and pulled an AR-15 assault rifle from his truck. The men said Reynolds fired over Hampton's head, then warned them never to come back.

Booker told police neither he nor Hampton do anything to threaten Reynolds during the altercation.

According to police, after a relative told Reynolds that Booker was scared for his life, Reynolds reportedly said that "he ... sure should fear for his life."

In a typed prepared statement, Reynolds acknowledged that he fired the weapon five times in the air during the March incident. Reynolds is being represented by El Dorado lawyer Matt Thomas. Thomas did not immediately return a call for comment Saturday.

If convicted, Reynolds faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each count. A note on the criminal filing against Reynolds stated he could receive an enhanced penalty of 15 years on each count because a firearm was used in the crime.

Reynolds was arrested in 1978 for first-degree battery after allegedly shooting a man from Haynesville, La. The charge ultimately was reduced to misdemeanor battery and Reynolds received a one-year suspended sentence along with a $1,000 fine.

For more information see Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.