Pictured above, Shannon Barnett. Scroll down to read incident report.
A judge sentenced a Saline County man to a total of 50 years in prison for ongoing criminal activity. According to a statement from the Saline County Prosecutor’s Office,
Read the details below.
On March 3rd, 2025, Shannon Anthony Barnett, age 50, a white male from Alexander, Arkansas, was found in violation of his probation, and pled guilty to:
- fleeing,
- failure to appear, and
- possession of firearm by certain persons (felon).
Barnett was sentenced to serve a total of 50 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. He has a criminal history of theft, drug, and firearm charges.
On June 30, 2020, Barnett was placed on probation for:
- possession of controlled substance,
- forgery,
- possession of firearm by certain persons (felon), and
- failure to appear.
After committing new criminal offenses, and absconding while on supervision, the State filed a petition to revoke his probation.
At a hearing on May 10, 2024, there was testimony from his probation officer and police officers about his new offenses. 2nd Division Circuit Judge Josh Farmer found Barnett had violated his probation, and sentenced him to 30 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, as the State requested.
The new offenses committed while on supervision were two separate fleeing incidents, possession of a firearm by certain persons (felon), and failure to appear. On March 15, 2023, Barnett fled from a Saline County Sheriff’s Office deputy for multiple miles at high rates of speed before crashing into a house and running on foot.
On February 29, 2024, Barnett once again: fled from a Saline County Sheriff’s Office deputy for multiple miles up and down city and residential streets almost striking other vehicles, running a red light, and driving by a school bus. That pursuit was eventually terminated by an Arkansas State Police Trooper using a TVI (tactical vehicle intervention). A firearm was located inside the vehicle. Barnett also failed to appear for court to answer for all these charges.
INCIDENT REPORT FROM SALINE COUNTY DEPUTY DALTON GREGG:
On February 29, 2024, I, Deputy Gregg, attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a Nissan Sentra Chicot Road and Oakley Dr, for Fictitious tag. When I initiated my lights, the vehicle tapped the brakes and slowed down. We continued driving slow north on Chicot Road.
The vehicle then began speeding up as we passed Green Road. I advised Central that the vehicle was failing to yield. Once into Pulaski County, the vehicle began passing other vehicles using the southbound lane. We continued north on Chicot, past Mabelvale Cutoff Road at speeds of 60 to 70 Miles per hour.
We then took a left onto Eagle Drive, once at the end on Eagle it turns into a cul-de-sac. The vehicle turned around and began traveling towards Chicot Road again.
We then took a right back onto Chicot Road headed south. We then turned left onto Twin Oaks Road. Once at the end of Twin Oaks, we took a left onto Oak Grove Lane, then turned left again onto Redwood Drive headed back to Chicot Road.
We then turned right going north on Chicot Road. We continued north on Chicot Road on to South University Ave. We then took a right on to the South I-30 Frontage Road traveling east.
At the intersection of I-30 Frontage Road and Geyer Springs, the vehicle almost struck two other vehicles in the intersection due to running a stop light.
We continued north on the Frontage Road. We then turned right on to Stanton Road. While on Stanton Road, Arkansas State Police took primary in the pursuit. Arkansas State Police performed a TVI on the vehicle at the I-30 west bound on ramp at the 131.
While ASP was attempting the TVI, the vehicle struck the I-30 westbound sign.
Once the driver was taken into custody he was identified as Shannon Barnett W/M 04/13/1974, after Barnett was taken into custody. Kelli Linker W/F 01/11/1988, was found laying in the back seat of the vehicle.
After running Barnett in ACIC, it was discovered he is a convicted felon. An inventory of the vehicle yielded, a yellow plastic pipe with residue, a glass container of a white crystal-like substance, and a 45-caliber handgun.
It was later discovered that the vehicle did not belong to him, it belonged to his girlfriends mother. The girlfriend’s mother showed up on scene and stated that he was not supposed to driving the vehicle. I was unable to retrieve the identity of the vehicle owner due to her leaving scene.
Barnett was then transported to the Saline County Detention Center and booked accordingly. My BWC and AXON car camera were on and operational at the time of the incident. Photos of the vehicle are uploaded to AXON evidence. Arkansas State Police report # 202403898ASP
The new offenses were set for trial on March 5, 2025 and Barnett choose to enter a plea agreement on March 3, 2025 to 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. The two sentences with run consecutively for a total of 50 years.
The State was represented by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Shea Long. The defendant was represented by Saline County Public Defender Jessica Ratcliffe.
Deputy Prosecutor Shea Long stated, “These are the types of offenses where multiple people are put at risk of serious injury or death by one person’s actions. I appreciate the efforts of the Saline County Sheriff’s Office and the Arkansas State Police to get this dangerous person off the streets.”
