CHARGES FILED IN JUNE STANDOFF

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Formal charges were filed this week against a Pine Bluff man who held law enforcement officers at bay for nearly three hours in June while holding a pistol to his head and threatening suicide.

Attempted murder

Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple charged Thomas Robert Gray, 46, with criminal attempt capital murder, committing a terroristic act, felon in possession of a firearm, fleeing in a vehicle and first-degree criminal mischief. The charges stem from an incident at T & J Moving and Storage at 310 N. Hutchinson St. June 20.

Gray was arrested after he rammed his truck through the gate and held a .44-Magnum pistol to his head before sheriff’s Lt. Steve McFatridge, Pine Bluff Police Lt. Bob Rawlinson and Detective Bill Wiegand talked him into surrendering.

At a probable cause hearing June 22, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kyle Hunter said Gray had been involved in a relationship with the owner of the storage facility for several years before she ended it April 29 and had an order of protection issued against him May 5.

On June 20, Hunter said police were sent to a reported armed disturbance at the storage facility at about 2 p.m., and saw Gray leaving in his truck, after reportedly firing shots through the door of the business.

After driving away, police, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers chased Gray’s truck onto the expressway, through White Hall and down U.S. 270 before he drove back to the storage facility and crashed through the gate.

Cash-only bond

A $500,000 cash-only bond that was set at the probable cause hearing remains in effect on the charges against Gray, and the case was assigned to 5th Division Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis.

Gray was also charged with theft of property and first-degree criminal mischief in a non-related incident at White Hall, and a $5,000 bond was set on those allegations. That case was assigned to 1st Division Circuit Judge Berlin Jones.