Guns, Weapons, and Ammo Lead to Arrest at Texarkana Church
Yesterday morning April 18, the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department received a phone call from a security member of the Faith Assembly of God located at 2001 Arkansas Boulevard about a man that was acting suspiciously while attending a revival service at the church.
Several members of the church say the man had been asking several personal questions about certain church members and staff. According to church members, this happened over several nights, and members of the church were not feeling very secure about the situation. The church requested that officers be at the service last night for safety measures. The man arrived around 7 PM and once inside the police walked to his vehicle and noticed in plain view an AR-style rifle, multiple 30-round magazines, a shotgun, a belt loaded with shotgun shells, knives, tourniquets, and other survival gear.
After talking with church members they requested the man be removed from the church, the police then talked with the man but he continued to ignore them walking toward the sanctuary where other church members were. Officers repeated their request and they reached to grab his arm to get his attention. The man turned around, balled up his fist, and took a fighting stance while backing up into the sanctuary where church services had already begun. Officers attempted to remove him from the church and he begin to fight with them while he also tried to remove items off of one officer’s utility belt. The man was sprayed with O.C. spray and taken into custody according to the TAPD Facebook post.
During a search of the man’s person, he was found to be in possession of marijuana and his identification identified him as Phillip Osbon of Minden, Louisiana.
Osbon was transported to the Miller County Jail and charged with obstructing governmental operations, resisting arrest, fleeing on foot, and possession of a controlled substance-marijuana.
Osbon is currently showing an active felony warrant in Colorado for obstructing justice related to an assault on a peace officer, although they will not extradite him.
This is the second of two church-related incidents recently where a person has entered a church building asking suspicious questions about the staffing, security, and personal questions about the staff member’s families. An arrest has been made in both situations.
The Texarkana Police ask citizens who notice any suspicious activity at their local church, businesses, and civic organizations to please report the incident for further investigation. TAPD is happy to assist in developing a security plan for your group or facility
Please reach out to Corporal Les Munn at munn@txkusa.org if you have any additional information about this person or similar incidents you may encounter.