PINE BLUFF -- A deputy with the Jefferson County sheriff's office was arrested this week over what authorities said was a false police report stating that his service weapon had been stolen.
According to a news release issued late Tuesday by the sheriff's office, Deputy Jeremiah Stephens was arrested Monday on one count of filing a false report with a law enforcement agency, a Class D felony.
Stephens, 34, who has been a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy since November, was released from jail on a $2,500 bond and is to appear in Jefferson County Circuit Judge Berlin Jones' courtroom at 9 a.m. Oct. 5.
Stephens has been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation, the news release said.
Attempts to reach Stephens on Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful, and the name of his attorney wasn't known by officials at the sheriff's office.
Jefferson County sheriff's office Maj. Lafayette Woods Jr. said in the news release that Stephens filed a report with the Pine Bluff Police Department on April 1, saying his apartment had been broken into and his sheriff's office-issued .40-caliber Glock 22 pistol was missing, along with two magazines of ammunition.
"We later developed information that contradicted Deputy Stephens' account of events involving the disappearance of his service weapon and it was at that time we authorized an administrative internal investigation," Woods said in the news release.
"Obviously, we give [deputies] the power to arrest people and take them to jail, but law enforcement officers also have the power of writing police reports and sending these reports to the prosecuting attorney. Prosecutors rely on these reports to decide whether to file criminal charges, and what charges to file.
"Fortunately, most law enforcement officers are generally honest and do their best to file accurate and truthful reports, but when one deliberately provides false information it is of major concern," the release states.
State Desk on 09/16/2015