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Jerry Lard accused of killing Trumann police officer in court

2:21 PM, Apr 20, 2011   |    comments
  • Ofc. Jonathan Schmidt, Courtesy KAIT
    
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- The man charged with killing a Trumann police officer in a shootout after a traffic stop has been ordered jailed without bond.

Poinsett County Circuit Judge Lee Fergus read the charges against 37-year-old Jerry Lard in court Wednesday and ordered him to remain in custody.

Lard sat silently in a wheelchair as the judge told him he's charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance. Lard also faces an unrelated rape charge.

Last Tuesday, officer 30-year-old Jonathan Schmidt made a traffic stop and approached the vehicle. Lard was a passenger in the back seat. It happened in front of the Cottonwood Manor Apartments.

Schmidt joined the police force in 2007.

Lard was wounded in the shootout and had been hospitalized until Wednesday's court appearance. He's due back in court April 29.

The Police Benevolent Foundation is also taking donations via text for the "Jonathan Schmidt Memorial Fund." You can help by texting the phrase COPS SCHMIDT to 85944. A $10 donation will be made through your cell phone bill. The PBF is asking everyone to please pass this information along to friends and family. Officer Schmidt's family will need all of us to rally behind them in these hard times.

(Source: The Associated Press & Today's THV)