HOPE, Ark–An Indiana man who allegedly exchanged gunfire with Arkansas State Police troopers during a highway chase in July has been formally charged with multiple felonies by the Hempstead County’s prosecuting attorney’s office, according to records filed Monday.
Joshua Allen Harrison, 36, has been charged as a habitual offender with aggravated assault on a certified law enforcement officer for shooting at state troopers shortly after 10 p.m. July 22 while traveling on Interstate 30. Harrison has also been charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and fleeing in a vehicle with substantial danger of causing death or serious injury, according to court records filed Monday in Hempstead County.
According to an Arkansas State Police statement issued in July, Harrison was near the Hempstead and Nevada county line when he shot at troopers, who then returned fire. Harrison’s vehicle reportedly crashed with a traffic trailer – ending the chase – and he was treated for minor injuries at a Texarkana hospital, the ASP statement said. Jail records show Harrison was booked into the Hempstead County jail early on the morning of July 23.
Indiana state court records show Harrison has a history of felony convictions in his home state and is currently wanted on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty and a felony charge of possession of methamphetamine. He has previously been convicted in Indiana of fleeing from police in a vehicle, battery with a deadly weapon, possession of methamphetamine and robbery with bodily injury, Indiana state court records show.
If convicted of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, Harrison faces 10 years to life in an Arkansas prison. If found guilty of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon or of firing shots unlawfully from a vehicle, he could receive five to 40 years on each count. If found guilty of fleeing in a vehicle he could receive a term in the range of five to 30 years, according to a criminal information filed Monday in Hempstead County.
Court records indicate that Harrison made a first appearance Monday in Hempstead County circuit court. Circuit Judge Joseph Short signed an order July 24 sealing the probable cause affidavit in the case because of a “separate and ongoing investigation related to the facts in the affidavit.”
The Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office website indicated Monday that Harrison is being held without bond.
