HOT SPRINGS -- A man arrested last year after chasing a Hot Springs police unit while in possession of drugs, andwho later drew international media attention when he was arrested after forcing open an emergency door on a plane waiting to take off from New York's LaGuardia Airport, has pleaded guilty to the charge in Garland County Circuit Court.
Antonio Demar Murdock, 31, who listed Texas and Malvern addresses when he was arrested in Hot Springs and a Florida address when he was arrested in New York, pleaded on Thursday to a felony count of possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, and was sentenced to four years' probation. He was fined $500 and ordered to pay $565 in court costs. An additional misdemeanor count of criminal trespass was withdrawn earlier.
Murdock was arrested Sept. 26 and released two days later on $3,000 bond. His arraignment had to be postponed after his arrest in Queens, N.Y., on Dec. 21 and he failed to appear for the rescheduled arraignment Feb. 9, resulting in his arrest Feb. 17.
He pleaded innocent March 2, and a mental evaluation was ordered March 10 by Judge Marcia Hearnsberger, but Murdock was ultimately set for a disposition hearing Thursday and pleaded guilty.
"He has mental health issues," Terri Harris, his court-appointed public defender, told The Sentinel-Record on Friday.
"At the time of his arrest [in Hot Springs], he had a medical marijuana card but it was from another state," Harris said. "The plea agreement was reasonable all things considered."
"The state had concerns about his mental health and had exhausted those remedies," deputy prosecutor Trent Daniels said. "We felt he needed to continue to be monitored."
According to the probable-cause affidavit, shortly before 4:30 a.m. Sept. 26 officer Matthew Cheatham was standing in the back parking lot of the Police Department at 641 Malvern Ave., speaking with Cpl. Mike Brown when they saw Sgt. Kirk Zaner pull into the back entrance gate and swipe his key card to get in.
As the gate began to open, a car pulled up behind Zaner's unit on Jefferson Street, and as Zaner started to pull forward into the lot a man jumped out of the car and began running toward the rear of Zaner's unit, the affidavit states. Cheatham and Brown began yelling at Zaner to warn him about the approaching man who "continued to run at full speed as if he was attempting to attack [Zaner]."
Zaner heard the warnings and sped forward to put distance between him and the man, who continued running toward his car, according to the affidavit. Cheatham and Brown drew their duty pistols "for fear of the subject's intentions" and ordered the man to stop.
They noted the man, later identified as Murdock, "made it halfway through" the gated back lot before he complied and put his hands in the air, and then got on the ground, the affidavit states. As they approached him, they noted Murdock was "speaking very erratically" and claimed there was someone in his car trying to kill him.
At that point, Murdock was detained for trespassing and the officers checked his vehicle and found there was no one inside it, according to the affidavit. Murdock then claimed the person was "inside his engine bay." Cheatham noted that "it was quickly determined [Murdock] was delusional."
During an inventory of Murdock's vehicle, a 2020 Kia, officers found 15 containers of suspected marijuana, a total of 135.9 grams, or almost 5 ounces, the affidavit states. Murdock admitted the marijuana was his and that he was unable to provide a medical marijuana card.
According to The Associated Press, Murdock and a female companion, Brianna Greco, were arrested Dec. 21 when a Delta flight out of LaGuardia Airport in New York City had to be halted after the couple, who were traveling with a Great Dane puppy, fled the aircraft using an emergency slide while the jet was on the runway about to take off for Atlanta.
"Witnesses reported seeing a panicky Murdock force open a cabin door and jump out using the emergency chute leading to the runway. He was quickly followed by Greco with the puppy in tow," The Associated Press reported.
Murdock and Greco, 27, who both listed a Lake Worth, Fla., address, were taken into custody on charges that included criminal mischief and trespassing, among others. The aircraft was forced to return to the gate where the remaining passengers got off and were later put on other flights.
Murdock was released without bail at an arraignment the next day, and Greco was released on a desk appearance ticket. The dog was turned over to an animal shelter.
"I asked them three or four times to let me off," Murdock told The New York Post outside court. "They said they were stopping the plane and they never stopped the plane, and I got to the point where I was just feeling dizzy. I didn't even know there was a slot to go down the slide. I just thought it was a regular door."