Report of armed disturbance results in two arrests

Two men were arrested Saturday after police responded to a reported armed disturbance at a motel on Blake Street.

Jamella Jackson, 28, and Jackie Ricks, 23, were taken into custody after police stopped the vehicle they were in on the parking lot of the Day’s Inn at 406 N. Blake St., Pine Bluff Police Detective Steven Rucker said in a probable cause affidavit presented in Jefferson County District Court Tuesday.

According to the affidavit, a caller reported that three men who were in a white Nissan were waving guns and pointing them at people on the lot, and when officers arrived, they saw the car attempting to leave and stopped it. The car contained three men and one woman.

Rucker reported that the driver of the car did not have a driver’s license and said the car belonged to his brother, who was also in the car. The license plate on the car returned to another vehicle, and the driver was also unable to show proof of insurance.

The car’s owner told police he had gotten into an altercation with an employee of the motel and another person in a white car who had pointed a gun at him. Officers stopped that car down the street and the driver allegedly admitted that he did have a gun. The driver said he had gotten a call from a friend who told him that there were people at the motel causing trouble and he went to help his friend. The driver was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of carrying a weapon.

One of the passengers in the Nissan was also arrested on two misdemeanor warrants.

Rucker reported that none of the occupants of the Nissan had a valid driver’s drivers or proof of insurance, and since the Nissan had a fictitious plate on it, police called a wrecker for the vehicle. During an inventory search, two handguns were found, one of them under the seat where Jackson was sitting, the other under the seat where Ricks was sitting.

A check of Jackson through the Arkansas Crime Information Center showed that he had been convicted of theft by receiving in 2008, and a check of the serial number of the gun found under Ricks’ seat showed that it had been reported stolen in Conway.

When Jackson was interviewed, he allegedly said he did not know the gun was in the car; when Ricks was interviewed, he said he got the gun from a cousin and did not know that it was stolen.

Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set a $50,000 bond for Jackson after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge him with felon in possession of a firearm and a $10,000 bond for Ricks after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge him with theft by receiving.

Jackson said he would hire his own attorney and the Public Defender’s Office was appointed to represent Ricks.