A Little Rock School District employee who clashed with a local TV reporter was arrested and charged with harassing communications Tuesday, a day after he was acquitted in a separate case, court records show.
Lance Fritchman, 52, was booked at 8 p.m. into the Pulaski County jail, where he remained Wednesday morning, according to the jail's online inmate roster. No bail had been set.
Fritchman, who is listed as a coach on the McClellan High School website, is accused of harassing reporter Mitchell McCoy via voicemails and social media posts, according to an affidavit filed in Little Rock District Court.
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McCoy, who works for NBC affiliate KARK and Fox affiliate KLRT, told authorities that Fritchman left him a voicemail Tuesday in which he compared him to the Looney Tunes character Porky Pig.
According to the affidavit, Fritchman said: "You need to do something about your fat lard a--. You look like Porky Pig, and I'm coming to pluck that pig."
McCoy said the voicemails caused him to fear for his safety, and officers who listened to them said they had a "vague, vulgar and threatening" undertone, according to an arrest report.
On Monday, an account bearing Fritchman's name had tweeted at McCoy and KARK and KLRT News Director Austin Kellerman.
@FOX16News @AustinKellerman @KARK4News @MitchellMcCoy Not only was I found not guilty of criminal trespass, the judge also through out the order of protection for you and Sweet Boy Mitch. I must not have been aggressive enough. Secondly, I was never suspended. Applying efforting!
— Lance Fritchman (@LanceFritchman) September 18, 2018
Fritchman's arrest came a day after Little Rock District Judge Hugh Finkelstein acquitted him of criminal trespass and removed an order that barred him from contacting McCoy and Kellerman.
Police wrote in a report from March that Fritchman had gone to the KARK and KLRT studios in the Victory Building at 1401 W. Capitol Ave. after McCoy had challenged Fritchman's social media posts that questioned why there is no white history month and criticized the looks of participants in women's rights marches.
McClellan High School Principal Antony Hobbs said in an email to parents Tuesday that Fritchman has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
