NLR standoff arises after 'landlord-tenant' dispute, police say

Officers are on the scene of a stand-off at 129 Delmar Ave. in North Little Rock.
Officers are on the scene of a stand-off at 129 Delmar Ave. in North Little Rock.

North Little Rock police have taken a man into custody after a near six-hour standoff with authorities Thursday.

North Little Rock Police Department spokesman Sgt. Brian Dedrick said officers arrested Francis Walls, 54, about 12:30 p.m. after convincing him to come out of his home at 129 Delmar Ave., a duplex in the Park Hill neighborhood.

Walls was taken into custody without incident.

Dedrick said officers responded to the residence about 5:30 a.m. after a tenant said their landlord — later identified as Walls — went to their door in an aggressive manner. That dispute was quickly settled, Dedrick said, but officers were called back to the residence about 6:15 a.m., when the same tenant said Walls had returned to the front door with a gun.

Walls then fled to his unit inside the duplex where a standoff occurred as officers arrived, Dedrick said.

Police and SWAT officers set up a perimeter around the property and, with the help of family members, negotiated Walls' surrender.

While the cause of the dispute is unknown, Dedrick said Walls has a pending court hearing for assault charges he incurred last month. He will be interviewed by police and admitted to a hospital for mental evaluation before any charges are determined, according to Dedrick.

Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.

Spencer Willems contributed to this story.

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