A man who died in the custody of the Ouachita County Sheriff’s office on Thursday has been identified as 38-year-old William Reather of Van Buren.
Ouachita County Sheriff David Norwood said Reather had been arrested on a violation of order of protection and had a warrant for terroristic threatening.
He was being transported to the Ouachita County detention center.
Norwood said that Reather was transported from Sheridan, the location of his arrest, to the detention facility in Camden and was found unresponsive in the back of the patrol unit after arriving in the sally port at the facility Thursday night.
When the transport vehicle arrived at the jail, Reather reportedly had a seatbelt wrapped around his neck. Norwood said Reather was handcuffed and no one else was in the back seat with him.
Due to the thick PlexiGlass, the deputy driving said he could not see or hear Reather.
The Arkansas State Police said it was called around 10:45 p.m. Thursday, July 6, to assist in the death investigation.
This is an ongoing investigation and more details will be released when they are known.
