Bail for a 57-year-old Little Rock man accused of shooting at his estranged wife in front of a police substation has been set at $125,000, more than twice what he had asked for.
Brian Erving Ridley, 57, has been jailed almost three weeks without bail after returning from Chicago to face charges of committing a terroristic act, unlawfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle and possession of a firearm by certain persons/felon, charges that together carry up to 60 years in prison.
Ridley did not testify, but defense attorney Bill James asked for bail to be set at $50,000, citing his client's poor health.
Ridley was in a wheelchair at Monday's hearing, and James said the defendant has "long-standing" medical conditions, including problems with his heart and back. Ridley needs a wheelchair because he can't walk very far without difficulty, James told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson.
An aunt, Clare Alale, testified that she would take him into her Little Rock home and provide transportation to court but said she couldn't afford to help him make bail.
Deputy prosecutor Jayme Butts-Hall called Ridley a "flight risk," saying that Ridley had been arrested in Chicago and had missed previous court hearings, so his previous bond of $25,000 had been forfeited. She also questioned the claims about his health, saying the medical records provided by the defense were at least 3 years old.
She also cited Ridley's almost 40-year criminal history, which includes out-of-state convictions for robbery and convictions in Arkansas for drug dealing in 1994 and for residential burglary and second-degree battery in 2004.
The current case has been drawn out because Ridley had been arrested in Chicago on a sexual assault warrant in 2014 and was jailed in Cook County, Ill., until he was acquitted at trial.
In Little Rock, police say Ridley ambushed 48-year-old Lisa Ridley when she got off work in January 2014 and chased her as she fled in her car from the 5400 block of Murray Street until she stopped in front of the Southwest Community Center on Baseline Road, where he fired into her vehicle.
The center also housed a police substation, Little Rock officer Jerred McCauley testified. There were police officers inside, McCauley told the judge, but no officers saw the shooting.
A woman sitting in front of the community center witnessed the shooting and told officers she saw a white sport utility vehicle pull up next to a sedan and someone in that vehicle shot into the car.
The front passenger side, driver's side and windshield of the woman's car had been shot up, according to testimony.
Lisa Ridley was not injured and told officers she had left her husband because he'd regularly been verbally abusive but had never been physically violent with her, McCauley said.
Brian Ridley was arrested the next day at 6320 Baseline Road while riding in a white SUV that was owned and driven by his son, Dwon Ewing Ridley of Hot Springs, McCauley testified.
Brian Ridley was not armed, but his son was arrested after police found a gun on him. Dwon Ridley, now 22, had a .380-caliber pistol, however, and Lisa Ridley's car was shot up with a .40-caliber gun, according to testimony.
Dwon Ridley is the son of Brian Ridley's previous wife, Cassandra Ridley, who was killed in a car wreck in May 1996.
Lisa Ridley and Brian Ridley were married in May 1999. It's not clear whether they ever divorced, but court records show the charges against him were the basis for a court order barring him from having any contact with her through the year 2024.
Metro on 03/15/2017