Former police chief confronts AR resident at Mayor’s office

HUGHES, Ark. — A confrontation between a former police chief and a resident at the Mayor’s Office has led to fireworks in Hughes, Arkansas.

Former Hughes Police Chief Cortez Bowers got into a verbal altercation at with Hughes resident, Corey Weems on April 4.

According to Weems, the issue between the two had been brewing since December after a traffic stop where Weems admitted to having marijuana in his possession.

“It all started December 29th when I was pulled over,” Weems said. “He asked me if I wanted to go to jail or go home. That’s what he did. Of course, I said I want to go home so he took my money or whatever and he uncuffed me and let me go.”

After the incident, Weems accused Bowers of threats and harassment, even assaulting him in custody a month after their initial meeting.

“As soon as I got out of jail, I told him he was going to pay for what he did to me – smacking me while I was in cuffs,” Weems said.

That’s when Weems said the two started talking negatively about each other on social media, including Bowers calling Weems a “snitch” on Facebook.

All this came to a head when Bowers confronted Weems in the Mayor’s Office last week.

“We are men,” Bowers said during the altercation. “You can come on out here like and we can handle it at this point. All you want to do is sit here, antagonize – you want to provoke. You want to throw a rock and hide your hand.”

WREG reached out to Hughes Mayor Lincoln Barnett for comment, but he was unavailable.

Instead, WREG was referred to a statement taped to the window of Hughes City Hall that said, “At the time of the incident (captured on video on 4-4-24) Mr. Bowers was formally separated from the City of Hughes Police Department and was no longer in-service as Chief of Police. No further comment will be given on the matter.”

WREG tried to reach out to Bowers but was unsuccessful. WREG has also reached out to Arkansas State Police and the St. Francis County Prosecuting Attorney’s office to see if they would be investigating the events in Hughes, but neither office returned our calls.

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