Hope man facing charges following River Run West incident

ASHDOWN – A Hope man is facing several charges following an incident April 18th at River Run West below the Millwood Dam spillway that had emergency personnel from Little River and Hempstead Counties responding. Kyle Phillip Edwards, 28, of Hope has been charged with Disorderly Conduct, Refusal to Submit to Arrest, Obstruction of Governmental Operations, and Littering.

According to the incident report by Little River County Deputy Brice Gray, he along with Little River County Investigator Russell Hopkins were dispatched to a call of someone driving into the lake on the spillway side (River Run West) and they were still in the vehicle. When authorities arrived, they observed an SUV with the front submerged up to the driver’s door window in Little River. As they checked, they saw someone, identified as Edwards, sitting in the driver’s seat.

While law enforcement was attempting to help Edwards, he allegedly locked the door. Deputy Gray said he attempted to break the window while Investigator Hopkins found another door unlocked.

The report said Edwards had to be physically removed from the SUV before allegedly beginning to resist being handcuffed. Once he was handcuffed, the report said he was removed from the water and Pafford EMS was called to check him out. According to the report, when asked what was going on, he allegedly responded  he “just wanted to end it,” and had been parked for one to two hours before driving into the river. He was then transported to the Little River County Detention Center in Ashdown.

The vehicle was recovered by Red River Wrecker Service. Also on scene were deputies from Hempstead County and members of the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department.