TONTITOWN, Ark. — A viral video is circulating on social media of local police taking a man out of his house to arrest him for allegedly piercing his son's ear.
In the video, you can hear the reason for the arrest being "body art without a license."
There were rumors online that the officers were with the Springdale Police Department (SPD), to which the department responded by saying:
"We are aware of a viral video purporting to be of SPD. The department in the video is of a neighboring jurisdiction. No Springdale Police officer is involved in the incident posted online." wrote SPD.
The Tontitown Police Department (TPD) later posted a press release to Facebook confirming the officers were with their department and the reason for the arrest.
In the press release, TPD says on April 20, a Springdale Police School Resource Officer reached out to them concerning the welfare of a male Tontitown student.
According to the release, the resource officer told TPD that the student went to school with his left ear pierced and shared with his classmates that "his dad was drunk, put him in a chokehold and shoved the piercing in his ear."
TPD says they went to the student's home to speak with the father, identified as Jeremy Sherland. According to the release, TPD explained to Sherland the reason officers were there and Sherland admitted to piercing his son's ear.
Tontitown Police say they tried to investigate more but Sherland refused to let them speak to his son and to answer further questions. Officers left the home without incident after this, according to the release.
TPD says officers then reached out to the Washington County Prosecutor's Office to discuss the incident where it was decided to charge Sherland.
Officers with TPD then went back to Sherland's home to arrest him but according to the release, he refused and stood by the doorway with his hands behind the door and wall after being asked by officers to step outside.
TPD says this is when officers took Sherland into custody.
Sherland is being charged with endangering the welfare of a minor, refusal to submit arrest and obstructing governmental operations.
On Tuesday, May 23, Washington County Prosecutor Matt Durrett confirmed the charges against Sherland were dropped saying, "The victim's statement at the scene and afterward was drastically different from what was told to police early on. So, without a victim, we don't have enough evidence to proceed,".
To view the video on TikTok, tap here.
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