The suspect in a traffic stop that resulted in two lanes of U.S. Hwy. 64 in Roland being shut down Tuesday night was a wanted felon from LeFlore and Crawford counties.
He also threatened suicide during the stop.
Roland police chief Tommy Sessums said 42-year old Randy Potter of Spiro was driving a “red or maroon” compact car west on U.S. Hwy. 64 when he was pulled over for a traffic stop in front of the Interstate Inn just east of the I-40 interstate exchange.
When officer Chris Waters approached the car on the driver’s side during the initial stop, he observed the man inside the car “messing with” a black bag from which he removed a handgun.
Officers said he took the gun and put it to his head to trigger the standoff, which lasted from 10:38 p.m. on Tuesday until 1:24 a.m. Wednesday morning.
“Apparently he was just recently out of prison and we received information form his girlfriend saying he had vowed not to go back if he got stopped,” Sessums said. “Officer William Wheeler did an excellent job of talking to the suspect and negotiating what was basically a surrender after three hours.”
Potter was wanted on felony warrants of LeFlore County in Oklahoma and Crawford County in Arkansas, including charges of theft by receiving in Oklahoma and failing to register as a sex offender in Arkansas.
In addition to those charges, Sessums said Potter would be charged with numerous felonies in Sequoyah County including possession of firearms ( a sawed off shotgun and a 9mm pistol), possession of meth, drugs scales and other paraphernalia.
It all adds up to what the suspect feared the most. He likely will wind up back in prison on new charges in addition to violating his parole, according to Sessions.
“I want to commend the officers involved,” said Sessums. “We all had a long night and got to go home for a few hours sleep. Everyone did a great job.”
Dennis W. McCaslin
Dennis McCaslin has been a longtime news and sports reporter for several media outlets in the Fort Smith area. He has also been a well known radio personality and play-by-play announcer for several years prior to joining InsideFortSmith.Com. He is the voice of the ArklahomaSports High School Game of the Week. E-mail: dennis@greatplainsdigital.com
