Felony Friday: Mandated reporter intimidates witness in child porn case

This is a roundup of felony charges filed between Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, 2024, by the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office. Some defendants may also have misdemeanor charges against them, but they are not included here. The following names and charges, which are contained within public documents, are gathered from online court records available through ARCourts. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Here’s a rundown of felony cases filed this week:

Mandated reporter intimidates witness in child porn case

An Amity woman has been charged for allegedly intimidating a person who could be used as a witness in an ongoing child porn case.

Wanda Mae Fagan is the mother of Ethan Fagan, who was arrested this summer by Arkansas State Police on multiple counts of child porn possession. On Nov. 26 Amity police investigated a complaint that the elder Fagan, 62, had harassed the mother of Ethan’s newborn child. Wanda Fagan allegedly threatened to use her position as a mandated reporter — she’s a paraprofessional and bus driver at Centerpoint School District — to report to the Department of Human Services a complaint she heard at the school that the mother had left one of her children alone at home for a few hours.

Police were able to listen to a video and audio recording of Wanda Fagan telling the mother that she would “play dumb” if the mother would assist in getting Ethan Fagan out of trouble; otherwise, she would report the mother’s actions in an effort to remove her children from the home.

Intimidating a Witness is a Class C felony punishable by 3-10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

Arkadelphia man hospitalized, and later arrested, after standoff with police

Ryan T. Johnson, 39, was transported to Baptist Health Medical Center-Arkadelphia after police were called to his Gresham Street home on Oct. 10. A female advised officers that Johnson had forcibly removed the front bumper of her car. 

Police arrived and tried to apprehend Johnson, who instead ran indoors and “barricaded” himself in the home. The female was unsuccessful in her attempt to enter the residence, where she looked through a window to see Johnson holding a firearm to his head. Police established a perimeter outside the residence for the safety of nearby bystanders. 

Johnson surrendered after a 45-minute standoff. The gun he had was discovered to be a BB gun. Johnson walked away from the hospital five hours later. 

Police again responded to Johnson’s residence, where he fled on a bicycle to a North 15th Street location and jumped off the bike and prompted a foot chase. He was again apprehended, this time wearing a backpack, and transported back to the hospital. An inventory of a backpack he had been carrying revealed an assortment of tools and knives, as well as meth and marijuana contained in plastic bags inside a metallic container.

Johnson is charged with Aggravated Assault and Possession of a Schedule I/II Controlled Substance-Methamphetamine, both Class D felonies.

Shooting suspect identified in photo lineup

On Sept. 28 Arkadelphia police were called to Elliston Place Apartments, 222 N. 20th St., for a 911 report of shots fired. 

When officers arrived, witnesses told them there had been a physical altercation between two black males near the Dumpsters, and gave a description of one suspect who produced a handgun and fired the weapon. Witnesses added that the suspect and three others got into a white Dodge pickup and fled the area. 

After speaking with the other party involved in the altercation (a juvenile), police produced a photo lineup, allowing identification of Christopher Trevon Avington, 22, as the suspect. An arrest warrant was served Oct. 8 at Avington’s Witherspoon Road residence.

Avington is charged with Aggravated Assault, a Class D felony punishable by up to 6 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

Meth discovery spurs domestic disturbance, arrest of Arkadelphia woman

Paula Ruth Passmore, 34, was arrested Nov. 23 after Arkadelphia police were dispatched to her Pecan Street home for a disturbance in progress. 

Police watched a cell phone video the male victim captured of Passmore allegedly attacking him after he confronted her of finding meth and a pipe in her purse. Passmore also recorded the disturbance and showed an officer, who determined it to be a verbal altercation. The male, however, provided officers with the substances, which he had hidden in the home out of Passmore’s reach.

Passmore is charged with Possession of a Schedule I/II Controlled Substance-Methamphetamine, a Class D felony punishable by up to 6 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

Warrant check leads to search of suspect, discovery of crack cocaine

On Nov. 1 an Arkadelphia policeman observed Bismillah Rahim Muhammad walking north on 16th Street. A previous check of the ACIC/NCIC database revealed that Muhammad, 51, had an active warrant with the Post-Prison Transfer Board and labeled as having full extradition. 

Made aware of the warrant, Muhammad was placed into custody. A search of his person yielded a plastic bag containing crack cocaine, marijuana and paraphernalia to use the crack. The crack weighed .52 grams.

Muhammad is charged with Possession of a Schedule I/II Controlled Substance-Methamphetamine and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia to Ingest, Inhale, Etc., both Class D felonies with an habitual offender enhancement, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.