After standoff, Garland man arrested for attempted murder

GARLAND COUNTY, AR – A Garland County man was arrested after an hours long standoff Tuesday night. According to the report, 70-year-old Bobby Howell shot at a deputy and threatened to burn his house down, all while his daughter-in-law was hiding in the crawl space.

The Garland County Sheriff’s Office was originally called out to 822 Vaughn Road on a report of a suicide threat, saying Howell had left his residence and was possibly armed. A deputy found Howell in his truck and tried to pull him over, but Howell led him on a chase at speeds up to 80mph, according to the report.

The chase ended back at 822 Vaughn, with Howell reportedly getting out of his truck and firing at the deputy. A short time later Howell’s wife Nancy drove away from the house and told deputies that he was barricaded inside of the home, planned to burn it down, and his daughter-in-law was hiding beneath the home. The sheriff’s office says that Howell staged several firearms and full gas cans by the doors.

After two hours of negotiation, Howell came out and was arrested. He was taken to the hospital to be evaluated and then taken to jail. He is charged with one count of criminal attempt at capital murder.