Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Child injured on merry-go-round

Two incidents over the weekend sent persons to the hospital and are being investigated by the Gurdon Police Department.

On Saturday, Dec. 8, around 10 p.m., Gurdon Police officers Chris Russell was dispatched to the Gurdon Park on U.S. 67 South when a 911 call reported that someone was unconscious near the merry-go- round, according to a report on file at the Gurdon Police Department.

The report states that upon arrival, Russell found a 16-year-old male on the ground by the merry-go-round with blood on the back of his head. The teenager was not responsive and the report indicated that he was wearing a body harness.

After a brief investigation, Russell also found that a long rope was tied to the merry-go-round. Witnesses on the scene told him that the unconscious person had been tied to the merry-go-ground with the body harness while others attempted to spin it extremely fast using the rope and a truck. The driver of the truck was reported to be 27-years-old.

The fast spinning piece of playground equipment threw the teenager off. He was transported by ambulance to Baptist Health Medical Center-Arkadelphia and was later transported to Arkansas Childrens Hospital in Little Rockwhere he remained on Sunday, Russell said.

Witnesses of the accident were 30 and 16-years-old.

In an unrelated incident also on Saturday night, Gurdon Police responded to a report of a stabbing.

According to a report on file at GPD, Russell responded to a residence on S. Ninth Street where a man told him that he had been jumped and stabbed by a white male who had fled. While Russell was a the residence, Officer Jimmy Edwards was flagged down by a woman who said she had been attacked by her husband at the S. Ninth Street house and that she had stabbed him in an effort to defend herself.

The man was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center- Arkadelphia by ambulance, and Russell escorted the woman back to the residence.

At the residence, officers recovered a pair of scissors that the woman said were used in the stabbing. Officers also found blood on the bed and floor of the bedroom where the attack is said to have taken place, the report states.

Police attempted to locate the male who had been stabbed, but hospital officials said he left without being seen by doctors. Police were not able to find him for additional questioning.

Russell said he believes the woman stabbed the man in self defense.

No charges have yet been filed.