Report: Ex-officer scattered casings, fired shots to fabricate shooting story

This booking photo provided by the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office shows David Houser. Houser, the Arkansas police officer who said he was shot during a traffic stop, was arrested Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, after authorities say the incident never happened.
This booking photo provided by the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office shows David Houser. Houser, the Arkansas police officer who said he was shot during a traffic stop, was arrested Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, after authorities say the incident never happened.

A former England police officer who admitted he fabricated a story about being shot while conducting a traffic stop scattered shell casings in the road and fired rounds into a nearby field so it looked like a shooting occurred, according to court documents.

Former Sgt. David Houser reported that on Oct. 24 a driver he pulled over brandished a handgun and fired four shots at him, striking him once.

Houser later said he fabricated the story and fired the shot that hit him. On Nov. 3, he was fired from his position and arrested on a charge of filing a false police report.

In an effort to make it appear that a shooting occurred, Houser took spent shell casings from the England Police Department and scattered them in the road, Sgt. Scott Russell wrote in an affidavit. Houser also shot himself in the chest and then fired more rounds into a nearby field, according to the affidavit.

England police and Arkansas State Police sent several days pursuing the case and searching for the shooter before Houser said he filed a false report.

Houser was arraigned 9 a.m. Monday in Lonoke County Circuit Court.

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