Official: Ark. cop arrested after lying about being shot
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- An Arkansas police officer who said he was shot during a traffic stop has been arrested after authorities say the incident never happened.
State Police arrested 50-year-old David Houser on Tuesday on suspicion of filing a false police report. England Police Chief Nathan Cook says Houser was fired Monday after he admitted lying about the incident. Cook says investigators believe the traffic stop and shooting never happened.
Police say Houser called in a traffic stop at about 2 a.m. on Oct. 24, then told dispatch that the driver shot at him. He told investigators the bullet grazed his bullet-resistant vest and deflected off a pen.
In a press release to CBS affiliate KTHV, state police also said that "Houser told local and state law enforcement officers that while on patrol that he had exchanged gunfire with a suspect who fled from him driving a sport utility vehicle south of England along State Highway 15."
Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley says Houser has no attorney. Houser didn't return a call seeking comment.
England is 30 miles east of Little Rock.