By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
An argument escalated into an exchange of gunfire in a Forrest City neighborhood Sunday evening.
Three people were shot when a suspect opened fire with a shotgun on their vehicle at the Crawford and McClendon Streets intersection about 6:20 p.m., according to the Forrest City Police Department. According to police, shots were also fired back at the suspect, who was uninjured.
Demetrick Haggans, 22, and his sister, Tiffany Haggans, 20, both of 2001 Crawford Street, were shot along with Omar Lowe, 16, 136 Tobar St., all of Forrest City.
FCPD Criminal Investigation Division Sergeant Brian Davis said each victim was shot at least once. Demetrick Haggans was shot in the back, Tiffany Haggans was shot in the chest and Lowe was shot in the leg. The Haggans were airlifted from the scene to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis. A Med spokesman today said the Haggans had been discharged from the hospital.
Lowe was taken by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City where he was admitted. His condition was unavailable at press time.
According to police, just before 11 p.m. Sunday, Anthony Pendelton, 23, 116 Village Gate, Forrest City, turned himself in at the FCPD. He was arrested on charges of three counts of first-degree battery. He is being held in the St. Francis County Jail and was scheduled to be arraigned in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon.
Police officers responded to a call about shots being fired on Crawford Street, in front of the Haggans' residence located in the southwest portion of Forrest City, just after 6 p.m. Upon arrival, police found the three victims and learned the shooting had stemmed from an argument at a local convenience store earlier in the day.
Davis said that during the shooting, the victims and suspects were outside their vehicles. Davis said about six shots were fired from Pendelton's shotgun. He added that several neighborhood residents were sitting outside when the shooting began.
The investigation is continuing.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
An escape route at the St. Francis County Jail was discovered during the night Sunday after a rock was thrown through a window at the Forrest City Post Office at 621 E. Broadway.
Officers with the Forrest City Police Department responded to an alarm call at the post office just after midnight. Police found a rock inside the building, but after searching the facility, it was determined that nothing had been taken.
About two hours later, an officer patrolling the area found a subject climbing over the fence behind the post office. After a brief chase, police caught the suspect about a block away and identified him as Joseph Smith, 33, 940 Mann St., Forrest City, who was supposed to be an inmate at the St. Francis County Jail.
Smith told police he had escaped from the jail through a window that had been removed from inside his cell, and that he and other inmates inside that cell had been going in and out of their cell since Sept. 1.
St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman this morning said an internal investigation is under way to determine how the inmates were able to remove that window without their activity being detected by jailers.
According to Parkman, in a sworn statement, Smith told police, inmates inside his cell had taken an inside cell door off its hinges and used that to remove an eight-by-32-inch window frame. They were then able to take the window out and leave the facility, while placing the window frame back into its original hole while they were gone.
Smith told police a second inmate had left the jail with him Sunday and that inmate was the one who broke the window at the post office. Both suspects are back in custody, and Parkman said they were expected to be charged with second-degree escape.
As for the jail problems, Parkman said his office is investigating what happened, and reprimands will be issued.
"It looked normal. You couldn't tell it could be removed," Parkman said, adding that it took the inmates about two days to remove the window frame.
Parkman blamed the (Continued from Page 1)
inmates' ability to remove the window on what he called "poor construction of the jail. There should not be any way to do what they did."
Parkman said work crews are redoing all cell windows today to make it "almost impossible to take anymore windows out like they did that one."
In addition to the escape route, Parkman said the inmates in that cell were also found in possession of several items including cell phones and street clothes, as opposed to their jail-issued orange jumpsuits. "I don't know how they got these things," Parkman said, adding that this will be part of the internal investigation.
In addition to his previous charges, Smith is also charged with breaking and entering and fleeing.
Federal investigators processed the scene at the post office this morning, causing that facility to be closed until noon.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The sound of helicopters was heard over much of St. Francis County last week .
More than 400 marijuana plants were located from the air in the Forrest City area Friday, in an operation in which several law enforcement agencies participated.
Lee and Phillips County were also covered.
According to Sgt. Randy York, with the Arkansas State Police CID, the State Police, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Arkansas National Guard cooperate in the special operation.
"We found a little over 400 plants in the Forrest City area," said York.
He said the plants are spotted with trained human eyes.
"We can spot one plant," he said, "if there's one plant in a guy's back yard."
Information on what was spotted from in the air was radioed to people on the ground, who moved in to seize the marijuana.
The week of flying from the Forrest City airport is not the end of the operation, according to York.
"We're still a continuing special operations group that travels," he said.
"We've still got several weeks of growing season, so we'll be traveling around."
He wouldn't say where.
One contested race each in the Forrest City and Palestine-Wheatley school districts are all that residents have to vote on in Tuesday's school elections.
In Forrest City, incumbent Sandra Taylor faces a challenge by Tony R. Morgan. In Palestine-Wheatley, incumbent Stanley Siler is being challenged by Dow V. Lee.
There is no contested race in the Hughes school district, and none of the districts is asking for a millage increase.
Polls will open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.
The Forrest City City Council will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. Items on the agenda include a public hearing, bid openings and awards, resolutions, and ordinances.
The Forrest City Workforce Alliance received a portion of $71,000 in Mini-Grants given out by the Foundation for the Mid-South.
The local workforce was one of six Delta area communities to share in the money which goes toward extensive technical assistance, education and training.
According to a press release, the grants are designed to increase local citizens' awareness of workforce development opportunities and challenges through public policy education and training; identify Delta industry-specific training needs; and to create an awareness of the legislative process and demonstrate how it can work to impact community change at the local level.
The St. Francis County Workforce Alliance in Forrest City received $15,000 in grant money.