A parole absconder is facing charges after being found with a firearm and drug paraphernalia, according to documents provided to the Independence County Circuit Court.
Independence County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Cunningham was dispatched to a Newark residence on Feb. 7 to meet a member of the Arkansas Corrections Special Response Team, according to court records. That officer had just made an arrest on a parole absconder, Steven William Reed, age 27. During the arrest, the Corrections Department officer found a .22 caliber rifle and drug paraphernalia, court documents report.
Reed was taken into custody by Cunningham and charged with those two offenses. Being a previously convicted felon found in possession of a firearm is a felony.
The prosecutor is also asking that Reed be tried as a habitual offender. The court information said he has four or more previous felony convictions in Jackson County. His bond was set at $25,000.
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