SPRINGDALE -- The Springdale Police Department has released the name of a suspect in a Wednesday disturbance near Murphy Park in which an officer fired his weapon.
Ethan Brasel, 20, was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and taken to the Washington County jail, reported Capt. Jeff Taylor, a spokesman for the department.
Police received a call about 6 p.m. from a woman saying Brasel would not get out of her car in the western parking lot of Murphy Park on South Pleasant Street, according to a department news release. The caller reported Brasel had a pistol in his front waistband and there was another gun in the car, police said.
Officers said they found Brasel sitting in the front passenger seat of a white car. Officers ordered Brasel out of the car and asked if he had any weapons, the release says.
Brasel said he didn't have a weapon, but officers could see a rifle in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, the release says. Brasel pulled away and ran when one of the officers began to pat him down in a search for weapons, police said.
An officer yelled Brasel had a gun as police chased him west from the park, police said. An officer ordered Brasel to drop the gun, according to the release.
An officer then fired his gun at Brasel, but didn't hit him, the release says.
Brasel continued to run away, cutting through backyards and jumping fences, police said. Officers found and arrested him in a yard close to the intersection of Pleasant and Maple Avenue, according to the release.
Officers found a pistol in the backyard of one of the houses in the area, police said.
Basel's injuries were related to the foot chase, police said.
An officer also received an ankle injury during the chase.
The officer who fired shots has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol pending an internal investigation, Taylor said.
The Washington County sheriff's office and Springdale police still investigating the incident, he said.
The parking lot where the disturbance began is south of the Springdale Public Library.
The library was open at the time of the incident, said Ann Gresham, the library director.