A Fayetteville man is facing a felony charge of aggravated assault after police said he pointed a rock at people in a car who followed him after he drove erratically.
Ryan Twiggs, 38, was arrested just before 5 p.m. Sunday on the dead end of West Walton Street and was booked into the Washington County Detention Center, according to the Sheriff’s Department website. Twiggs also faces charges of public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Fayetteville and University of Arkansas police responded to a caller who said a Ford Explorer had passed at least two cars on the right shoulder and nearly hit pedestrians in a crosswalk, according to a preliminary police report. The caller in the car followed the Explorer to the end of Walton Street where the driver pointed an object at the car and another car who had also followed the Explorer, the report said.
Police on the scene identified the person as Twiggs and found a glass pipe in his pocket, the report said. Officers said Twiggs had a strong odor of alcohol and had red and watery eyes, the report said.
The person who had called police about the erratic driving was brought to the scene and she and her 13-year-old grandson identified Twiggs as the person who had waved what they had thought was a gun at them, the report said. Twiggs told officers he had waved a “long, rectangular rock” toward the people who had followed him to show he was “not someone to be [expletive] with,” the report said.
The report said Twiggs showed how he had waved the rock at the cars and the officers said it was the way a person would hold a handgun. The female witness told officer that Twiggs had grabbed his crotch, yelled racial slurs and cursed them while pointing what turned out to be a rock at them.
