LITTLE ROCK — City Director Ken Richardson appeared to lean to the side and collapse out of his seat shortly after the start of a Board of Directors meeting Tuesday evening at the Robinson Center.
Richardson, 55, fell out of view behind the conference table where he had been seated along with Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and other city directors.
The clerk had been reading the meeting’s consent agenda when Richardson collapsed, causing the meeting to halt abruptly.
Attendees were asked to leave the conference room, and City Manager Bruce Moore asked the media in the room to turn off their television cameras. Other city officials swiftly moved toward Richardson to examine him.
As attendees waited in a corridor to return to the conference room, Little Rock Fire Department personnel were seen entering and exiting the room.
Around 6:22 p.m., roughly 20 minutes after the meeting began, first responders wheeled Richardson out of the room on a stretcher headed toward an exit. He appeared to be conscious and was seated upright.
Richardson did not immediately return a voicemail and email Tuesday night after conclusion of the board meeting.
City officials did not address Richardson’s collapse once the board meeting resumed without him.