Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Saturday Night Fire Of Vehicle And Trailer Being Probed

Rumors have recently been spread concerning law enforcement in Emmet.

According to the most prevalent rumor, there is no law enforcement in the community.

Friday night, six Emmet residents were wishing those rumors were true.

Deputies with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, the NCSO reserves, one member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, along with Hempstead County Sheriff Jerry Crane and his chief deputy, Bill Otis, and several HSCO reserves raided four houses in Emmet Friday evening.

With those raids, six people were arrested on a variety of charges. Eugene Hopson, 40, of Emmet, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, primarily crack cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and the sale of a controlled substance, namely marijuana.

Willis Love, 31, of Emmet, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and a hunting violation, possession of another's wildlife.

Rosemary Harris, 41, of Emmet, was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of another's wildlife without information.

Phillip Guidry, 26, of Hope, was picked up on a failure to comply with sentence warrant from Hempstead County.

Christell Holmes, 64, of Emmet, was charged with overpossession of beer, selling beer without a license and overpossession of alcohol with intent to sell.

The final suspect arrested was Robert J. Love, 57, of Emmet. He was charged with overpossession of beer, selling beer without a license and overpossession of alcohol with intent to sell.

Officials with the two county sheriff's offices met at approximately 6 p.m. just past the Emmet exit off Interstate 30.

Nevada County Sheriff Harold Vines coordinated the assault plans, giving each team sketches of the houses they were about to hit and locations of the homes.

Each officer checked their gear, making sure they were wearing their bullet proof vests.

Then, with Vines in the lead with his "A" team, the convoy began its move.

The first team stopped at the Holmes residence, with the second squad hitting the Love home. The Harris location was for the third team, while Vines' crew hit the Hopson place.

Each house was hit at approximately the same time, thereby cutting down on the chance of anyone running away.

The raid went smooth, as all suspects involved were caught off guard.

Wayne Kisselburg and Narco, the Nevada County SO's drug dog, were utilized in searching the homes to make sure deputies didn't miss anything.

It would have been easy for officials to miss possible evidence as the homes, for the most part, were filthy and roach infested.

Officers discovered the Harris residence had electricity but not water.

In addition, AGFC officer Bill Vanscoy found packages of what appeared to be deer meat, dated Feb. 1996, in the refrigerator, with one package on a counter.

When Vines kicked in the door at the Hopson home, officers caught the suspect in the bathroom attempting to flush evidence down the toilet.

Three of those arrested have bonded out on bail. They are, Robert Love, Holmes and Guidry.

Harris, Willis Love and Hopson are currently held in the Nevada County Jail.

"Friday night was part of our continuing effort to combat the sale of drugs and alcohol to minors," Vines said.

In other news, officials are investigating what is believed to be a case of arson.

According to Jim Westmoreland, criminal investigator with the NCSO and Prescott Police Department, the fire occurred at a mobile home at 635 Hatley.

Officials received a call at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday. When firefighters arrived, they saw the trailer on fire, along with a vehicle ablaze nearby.

The trailer was being rented by James Walker. At the time of the fire, Westmoreland said, two people were inside.

Apparently, a female, who was in the trailer at the time, had broken up with her former boyfriend and was dating someone else, who was also in the mobile home at the time.

Both report hearing a noise, then seeing flames. The pair also informed officers they saw a suspect running from the scene at the time.

The suspect, Westmoreland said, was identified as the ex-boyfriend, who was reportedly upset because of the breakup.

An arson investigator with the Arkansas State Police has been called in to examine the evidence.