North Louisiana officers are investigating how the driver of a car was shot and wounded Saturday after he ran from a traffic stop.
According to a statement issued by the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday morning, a deputy tried to stop a 1999 Mercury Marquis on Louisiana 33 and Rosewood in Farmerville for a traffic violation. As the vehicle pulled into a local business, the driver exited the vehicle while it was still moving, causing the vehicle to strike the business.
The driver fled, running behind the building.
As the deputy approached the vehicle, he observed Jarvell Williams, 35, of Spearsville, LA, in the passenger’s side of the vehicle. The deputy secured Williams.
While securing Williams, the deputy heard a gunshot, which appeared to have come from the direction in which the driver fled.
The deputy placed Williams in custody with the assistance of another deputy who had just arrived on the scene.
As Williams was being taken into custody, the driver of the vehicle, Donnie Heard, 35, of Ruston, LA came walking out from behind another business located in the area. Heard appeared to have an injury to his face, which was determined to be a gunshot wound. Deputies immediately began to administer first aid and an ambulance was called.
Heard was transported to Union General Hospital for treatment and later airlifted to LSU Shreveport.
The Northeast Louisiana Sheriff’s Task Force was contacted to conduct the investigation due to Heard receiving a gunshot wound.
An initial investigation determined that no Union Parish deputy fired a weapon.
Investigators executed a search warrant on the car and found four grams of suspected “crack” cocaine and approximately 2.8 grams of methamphetamine.
Williams was booked into the Union Parish Detention Center and charged with possession of Schedule I (Ecstasy), possession of Schedule II (crack cocaine), fugitive from justice, and introduction of contraband into a penal institution. He is held on $21,000 bond.
Charges are pending against Heard upon his release from the hospital.
The investigation by the Northeast Louisiana Sheriff’s Task Force is ongoing to determine how Heard was shot.
