State gets body-cam footage of arrest of Arkansas woman who died after being taken into custody

The Conway County sheriff’s office has submitted body-camera footage taken during the arrest of a Hot Springs woman who died after being taken into custody, Sheriff Mike Smith said Monday.

The sheriff’s office turned the footage and other information over to the Arkansas State Police, which is investigating the death of Regina Twist, 36, at the request of the sheriff’s office.

Smith said he has “absolute” confidence in the deputy and is grateful that his deputies were wearing body cameras. The sheriff’s office issued them last week, he said. The sheriff declined to identify the deputy on leave but said the officer has been with the office several years.

Smith said two deputies initially responded to a disturbance about 4 a.m. Sunday outside a home on Oliger Drive near Springfield, north of Plumerville. He said Twist had broken a window out of a house and had destroyed her own vehicle. She had gone to the area for a cookout.

Trying to bring Twist under control, a deputy used a stun gun and pepper spray on her, but that did not immediately calm her, Smith said. It was not clear how many times the stun gun was used, he said.

Deputies later managed to handcuff Twist. The sheriff said he could not remember exactly how much later that was. It was after that, though, when she became unresponsive, state police said in a news release.

The sheriff said he could not comment on whether Twist was armed.

The Associated Press reported Monday that a woman who saw the disturbance said Twist pulled out a knife at one point.

Twist had visited the Conway County house for weekend gatherings before and had never shown similar behavior, according to the grandmother of the cookout’s host, who lives on the same property, the AP reported.

“Everything was fine, then about 3 o’clock in the morning she got up and went into the bathroom,” Nancy Hannum told the AP. “When she came out, she was like a mad woman.”

Outside later, the woman “was fighting everyone,” Hannum told the AP. “She would say, ‘Call the cops,’ and we’d tell her, ‘These are the cops.’”

Hannum said deputies spent 30 to 45 minutes trying to talk Twist out of her car before she pulled out a knife.

“That’s when [a deputy] tased her,” Hannum told the AP. “That didn’t affect her at all, then they got her with the Mace.”

According to the AP, Hannum said deputies grabbed Twist by her arms after she dropped the knife outside her car and then handcuffed her. When she became quiet, officers realized something was wrong and tried to resuscitate her, Hannum told the AP.

Twist died later at a Morrilton hospital.

Hannum described the events as “just horrible” but told the AP that the deputies “were very professional.”

According to the AP, state records show that a Regina Twist with the same birth date and hometown had been a registered dental assistant with permission to take X-rays, polish teeth and administer nitrous oxide. The license lapsed Dec. 31, according to the state Board of Dental Examiners.

Smith said it was too soon to speculate on whether Twist had taken drugs and said toxicology results sometimes take months to get from the state medical examiner’s office. An autopsy was scheduled for today.

“It’s very unfortunate,” Smith said. “Our hearts and our prayers go out to her family.”

Two deputies were originally at the scene, and two more arrived after Twist was handcuffed, the sheriff said.

Information for this article was contributed by Kelly P. Kissel of The Associated Press and Kally Patz of Arkansas Online.

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