FORT SMITH MAN APPEARS IN COURT TODAY ON CHARGES RELATED TO LAVACA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL INCIDENT

Fort Smith, Arkansas - Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Esteban Arreola, 29, appeared today in United States Magistrate Court for his initial appearance. A complaint was filed against Arreola charging him with possession of methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. United States Magistrate Judge James Marschewski signed the complaint on March 20, 2013.

According to the affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, on or about March 14, 2013, a teacher at Lavaca Elementary School reported seeing a man in a vehicle on school property with a pistol. Law enforcement subsequently observed the same vehicle speeding down the highway and initiated a traffic stop. The officers identified the driver as Esteban Arreola and observed an open container of alcohol and marijuana in his vehicle. Arreola was arrested for drinking on the highway, and an inventory search of the vehicle yielded a rifle, pistol, and methamphetamine.

This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office, Central City Police Department, and Lavaca Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Candace Taylor is prosecuting this case for the United States.

A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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