CONWAY -- A Faulkner County sheriff's deputy was fired Friday for using "excessive force" against a suspect during a videotaped arrest in May, while three other deputies are on leave and federal authorities are joining the investigation, the sheriff's office said.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

"It is clear from interviews, law enforcement supplemental reports and the video recording that Deputy Eugene Watlington engaged in gratuitous striking (kicking) of suspect [Harvey] Martin while other deputies struggled to restrain the suspect," a sheriff's office news release said.

"As a result, Deputy Watlington has been notified of his termination from his position as deputy sheriff effective July 10, 2015, for the use of excessive force against suspect Martin on the night of the incident," the release added.

"In addition to his termination, the [Faulkner County sheriff's office] will move to have Deputy Watlington de-certifed as a law enforcement officer," it said.

"A final decision on the employment status of the other deputies involved in the physical altercation and restraint of Martin has not been made a this time. They remain on administrative leave," the release said.

The sheriff's office also will "be working with federal authorities" to determine whether the deputies' actions "rise to the level of a federal civil rights violation," the office said.

Sheriff Andy Shock declined to comment further on the federal government's involvement.

FBI spokesman Debra Green said the bureau had "no comment" at this time.

Watlington could not be reached by telephone late Friday. His phone number is not listed in Conway-area directory assistance.

A second officer -- Billy Kenney, who was placed on paid administrative leave along with Watlington, a narcotics officer -- remains on leave, Shock said.

Kenney is a part-time deputy, and Kenney's arrest of a passenger in Martin's car, Christopher Cummings, was not caught on camera.

Shock, who said he saw the video a day or two after the arrests, declined to identify the two other deputies put on leave. Shock said the two unidentified deputies were put on leave later in the investigation, but he was not more specific about when.

Like Watlington, they were involved in Martin's arrest -- captured on video by an Mayflower police officer who was wearing a body camera, the sheriff said.

That Mayflower officer, Dalton Elliott, had joined sheriff's deputies in chasing the suspects' Mustang from Mayflower to Conway on the night of May 4 after deputies stopped their car, which authorities said pulled over but then fled.

The pursuit reached speeds of up to about 125 mph as authorities said Cummings used a 9mm pistol to fire numerous rounds at police. Bullets struck patrol vehicles but not the officers.

The sheriff's office said it expects its criminal investigation of the matter to be completed by early next week and then forwarded to the office of Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland. It will be the prosecutor's job to determine if felony charges are warranted against any of the deputies.

Cummings and Martin were taken to Conway Regional Medical Center for treatment of scrapes and bruises after their arrests. Shock has said the injuries were minor, and they were not kept overnight.

Sheriff's deputies had the men's vehicle and another car under surveillance at the Valero service station near Interstate 40 in Mayflower just before the chase began.

Both men have been repeatedly been convicted of felonies. Cummings was a parole absconder, the sheriff's office has said.

State Desk on 07/11/2015