Man arrested for shooting at liquor store even though liquor store wouldn’t sell him Fireball whiskey

Stephen Harness (Photo courtesy Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)

A Searcy County man was arrested for shooting at a Baxter County liquor store when the clerk wouldn’t sell him Fireball whiskey because he was drunk. Stephen Shane Harness, 51, of Leslie, is charged with second-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm from a street.

According to the affidavit, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Junction Liquor Store in Big Flat on April 19 after the shooting. The store employee told the deputy that Harness wanted to purchase the Fireball Whiskey but did not want to sell it to him because it was already impaired. Harness left, came back and tried to buy the liquor again but was rejected again.

The employee said after Harness left, he looked outside and noticed Harness had a gun outside his vehicle as he exited the parking lot. Then he drove past the store again, fired two or three shots and continued toward Searcy County.

A second witness confirmed the story. Both witnesses knew Harness and were able to identify him.

A gas station across the street had video surveillance that showed the incident.

Searcy County officers stopped the vehicle Harness was driving in the Harriet area and arrested him for driving while intoxicated. Portable breath test results showed his blood alcohol content was 0.30, nearly four times the legal limit of 0.08. The officer recovered several weapons in the truck, including a .12-caliber shotgun, believed to be the weapon used to fire the liquor store.

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