I-30 gas station owner arrested for pulling gun on customer

GURDON, Arkansas — The owner of a Clark County gas station is accused of aggravated assault after he allegedly pulled a gun on a customer.

Imran Arif, 49, owner of a Phillips 66 at 1934 Highway 53, was arrested April 25, 2024, a day after sheriff’s deputies responded to a complaint of the store owner pulling a gun on a truck driver.

The victim, identified in a police report as a 43-year-old black man from Irving, Texas, told deputies that he became the target of profanities and racist names from Arif, an Arabian. 

According to an incident report filed at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, the truck driver had used the restroom to “freshen up” and was walking back to his truck when Arif — reportedly agitated that the driver had left a mess in the restroom — commenced the name-calling.

Startled by the comments, the Somalian driver retrieved his phone from his truck and began recording the interaction. That’s when Arif allegedly produced a pistol and pointed it in the trucker’s direction. The truck driver showed deputies Robbie Plyler and Fred Phillips the recording and filled out a written statement. The deputies forwarded the information to the Criminal Investigation Division, who returned the following day to make an arrest on a felony charge of aggravated assault.

The Gurdon Phillips 66 station, located just south of Exit 63 on Interstate 30, has one feature several customers have photographed and shared on the store’s Google reviews: signs warning customers to keep their pants up or stay out. The message reads: “Pull your pants up Or don’t come inside You can take your saggin a*s Somewhere else.”