This is a roundup of felony charges filed Jan. 1-16, 2026, by the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office. Some defendants may also have misdemeanor charges against them, but most 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.
Pursuit ends in cattle field, damages to deputy’s car
An Arkadelphia man led police from two agencies on a chase that ended in a cattle field near Okolona.
On Jan. 7, 2026, Sean Anthony Bright allegedly led a Gurdon officer and a Clark County deputy sheriff on a chase. The officers pursued Bright, 31, onto Center Grove Church Road, where Bright ultimately lost control and spun out. The policemen tried, with no success, to block Bright’s vehicle with theirs, as Bright accelerated and rammed head-on into the deputy’s vehicle, pushing it back far enough that Bright was able to escape.
The deputy in pursuit, Bright then traveled down a dirt road, crashed through a farm gate and drove another 100 yards before crashing through a second farm gate. The second gate opened with such force that it swung back and ripped the driver’s side mirror from the deputy’s vehicle.
Bright then crashed through two sets of cattle panels at a corral before entering into a large pasture. He reportedly “brake-checked” the following deputy, who rear-ended Bright’s vehicle and got the cop car’s push bumper entangled with Bright’s tow hitch. After a second brake check, the deputy gave commands over his P/A system for Bright to stop.
Tires now flat, Bright surrendered the chase and was taken into custody without further incident. Bright later admitted to being under the influence of alcohol and drugs and that he couldn’t remember everything he had done.
He’s charged as a habitual offender with Fleeing, Criminal Mischief, and Aggravated Assault, each a Class D felony punishable by up to 12 years in prison given the habitual enhancement.
Gurdon pursuit ends with injuries to passenger
A Gurdon officer lost the trail of a fleeing motorist, later finding the vehicle crashed in a roadside ditch.
On Nov. 21, 2025, 31-year-old Jujuan Obree Marks, driving a convertible, led an officer on a high-speed chase of speeds reaching 80 mph on Arkansas Highway 53 south of Gurdon. Noticing the speeding vehicle, the policeman had tried initiating a traffic stop, but Marks instead sped away.
A short time later, dispatchers received a report of a wreck, and the officer discovered the vehicle upside down. Its passenger, Taquan Ivory, was sitting on a downed power pole and pointed the officer to Marks, the driver, who was still in the car.
Ivory was taken to an area hospital and placed in ICU with numerous serious injuries.
Marks is charged with 1st-degree Battery, a Class B felony punishable by 5-30 years in prison; and Fleeing (with serious injury), a Class D felony punishable by up to 12 years in prison given the habitual offender sentence enhancement.
Two underage girls say Pine Bluff man groped them
A Pine Bluff man faces sexual assault charges after a pair of underage victims told authorities that he had groped them.
Timothy Reginal Staten, 38, was arrested Jan. 12 in Pine Bluff, according to online jail records maintained by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Court records filed in Clark County allege that Staten, on two occasions, grabbed one victim’s clothed buttocks. The allegations were phoned in to an Arkansas State Police hotline in January 2025. Later that same month, a second juvenile female reported that Staten was coaching her to drive a vehicle at a former school campus in Arkadelphia when he touched her inappropriately on the stomach and thighs. That victim said she went home to shower, and that Staten entered the locked bathroom door, pulled the shower curtain back and asked to bathe her.
Both victims took their account of the alleged incidents to child safety centers.
Staten is charged with two counts of second-degree Sexual Assault, which carries a prison sentence of 5-20 years and/or a fine of up to $15,000 for each Class B felony.
Arkadelphia man sets house ablaze during disturbance
Arkadelphia police were called on the afternoon of Oct. 29 to an O’Connell Street residence, where a female reported Brannon Zion Hatley, 24, had brandished a knife and poured accelerant on her feet and himself.
Officers responded to find a compliant Hatley outside the residence and placed him in custody. Hatley, who reeked strongly of gasoline, was escorted back inside the residence in order to retrieve his house key to lock the residence. Inside, police were met with smoke and found that the interior was on fire. The affidavit does not mention the extent of damages caused by the fire.
Hatley’s bond set at $40,000. He’s charged with Aggravated Assault on a Family or Household Member, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of up to 6 years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Amity man jailed for beating woman
On Dec. 26, 2025, deputies were called to a West Thompson Street home for a report of assault at the hands of Ricky Ray Provence, 45, of Amity.
A 911 caller reported that an agitated Provence — apparently looking for a known female — was kicking in the door. While the caller was still on the phone with dispatchers, Provence burst into the home uninvited, went past the caller and located the female he was looking for in an upstairs room. The 911 caller advised dispatchers that she could hear a scuffle upstairs and what sounded like the victim being choked.
An Amity officer arrived along with a sheriff’s deputy to commence an investigation into the report.
An affidavit notes that Provence has an extensive criminal history with charges including aggravated assault and domestic battery.
He was charged in this incident with Breaking or Entering, and Aggravated Assault, which carries a combined total of 12 years in prison. Court documents filed since formal charges show that Provence entered a guilty plea on Jan. 13, receiving a 6-year prison sentence for Breaking or Entering, and 2 years for Aggravated Assault. Four years of the sentence were suspended.
Traffic stops result in drug arrests
Two traffic stops in December resulted in drug charges for motorists traveling in Clark County.
On Dec. 20, a sheriff’s deputy patrolling U.S. Highway 67 observed a southbound pickup truck swerve over the fog line twice. A traffic stop was conducted at Matlock Road.
The passenger of the vehicle, Raymond Lee Whitehead, 40, Mabelvale, said there was “dope” in his purse, and a search revealed a clear baggie containing methamphetamine inside the purse. The meth weighed 6 grams. Whitehead faces the charge of Possession of a Schedule I/II Controlled Substance, punishable by up to 6 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
A Dec. 27 traffic stop bore similar charges for an Amity man. An Arkansas Game & Fish Commission warden spotted an eastbound pickup speeding on Highway 8 between Amity and Alpine. A traffic stop was made at Center Ridge Road. The driver was identified as Jesse Hamilton Black, 26. The game warden sniffed a whiff of marijuana emitting from the vehicle, and a search of his person revealed a sunglasses case containing meth, and a search of the vehicle yielded a bag containing marijuana buds. Black is charged with Possession of a Schedule I/II Controlled Substance, a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of 3-10 years and/or a fine of up to $10K, and Possession of a Schedule VI Controlled Substance, a Class D felony punishable by up to 6 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
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