Chiefs report to City Council

Posted Date: 10/28/2024

This is part one of four articles about the City Council meeting held Oct. 24.

The Harrison City Council met on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

Police Chief Chris Graddy said their service calls are down about 2,000 from last year, but citations are the same. He then told how the partnership with the County works well to use cameras that read license plates as they come into Boone County. “It alerts our officers within seconds if the plate is wanted. On Sept. 27, a northbound car in the Bellefonte area alerted officers to a problem. 

Harrison Patrol Sgt. Ryan Guffey located the vehicle traveling on US Highway 62-65 bypass. Officers performed a high-risk traffic stop on the suspect vehicle and detained and identified the vehicle’s driver as De La Paz Ericson. On confirmation of the felony warrant out of Georgia, Ericson was arrested and is awaiting extradition back to Cobb County, Georgia.

“We are grateful for our partnership with the Arkansas State Police, Boone County Sheriff’s Office, and The 14th Judicial Drug Task Force for their assistance,” Graddy said.

Fire Chief Marc Lowery mentioned the wreck that happened Wednesday afternoon by the Visitor’s Center at about 2 p.m. He said there were nine patients, with three critical children, flown to various regional trauma centers. “There were two helicopters and three NARMC paramedic ambulances on the scene. We also dispatched our EMT Ambulance to back up NARMC. It was a horrific scene for all involved and definitely a team effort with all agencies working together.”

Both directions of Hwy. 65 were blocked for a time, with everything clear by 3:30 p.m.