Man accused of resisting during ‘tense’ traffic stop in Springdale

SPRINGDALE, Arkansas – A traffic stop that police said quickly turned heated led to the arrest of a Springdale man on Sept. 20.

According to a preliminary report from Springdale Police, the incident occurred around 7:45 a.m. on September 20.

The report states that an officer observed a westbound vehicle briefly traveling in an eastbound lane to avoid a vehicle stopped in a turning lane.

The traffic stop was conducted and the driver was identified as 34-year-old Cory Sullivan. Police claimed Sullivan then became “angry” and “verbally aggressive.”

The report states that the officer was unaware of the reason for Sullivan's alleged aggressiveness. Sullivan was then asked to exit the vehicle so he could be checked for weapons.

After Sullivan allegedly failed to comply with requests to exit the vehicle several times, an officer responding to the call attempted to remove him from the vehicle, the report said.

“Cory resisted and prevented me from removing him from the vehicle,” the report states. The officer repeated the commands again and then allegedly disobeyed again. He deployed the taser, but to no avail.

Subsequently, the report states, the situation escalated, which led to the officer's service weapon being confiscated.

“Due to the increasingly tense and rapidly evolving situation, I withdrew slightly, drew my service weapon and waited for the reaction of the other officers,” the report states.

When additional officers arrived, Sullivan complied and exited the vehicle, but the report alleges he began disobeying orders again.

“Cory ignored further instructions to lie on the ground. As Cory knelt on the ground, we assisted him to lie on his stomach. As we attempted to arrest him, Cory continued to tense his arms and actively resist,” the report said.

Sullivan was eventually handcuffed and arrested. He has since been booked into the Washington County Detention Center, where he was charged with obstruction of government operations, resisting arrest, and driving left of center. He was released the same day on $1,850 bail.

Sullivan is expected in court on October 21.

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