Manhunt Underway In Brinkley For Escaped Inmate Police Say Assaulted Jailer, Officer

BRINKLEY, Ark. — Police in Brinkley are searching for a 41-year-old convicted felon who they say assaulted a jailer and an officer before escaping Thursday morning. State prison dog teams joined the search before 10 a.m., and Union Pacific was asked to halt trains through town.

The Brinkley Police Department identified the man as Rodney Smith, born Oct. 15, 1985. Arkansas Division of Correction and court records list his full name as Rodney Jermaine Smith. Police said he should be considered armed and dangerous and asked anyone who sees him to call 911 or Brinkley police at 870-734-3434.

Arkansas State Police troopers and special agents are assisting in the search, the agency said in a news release late Thursday morning. State police said Smith was being held at the Brinkley Police Department detention center while awaiting bed space with the Arkansas Division of Correction, and that he assaulted law enforcement personnel and took an officer’s Taser before fleeing on foot.

State police also sent members of its Emergency Response Team, the agency’s tactical unit, from Troop K in Hot Springs and set up a command post at a Baptist church in town, according to radio traffic.

Smith got out around 7:15 a.m. through a back door that opens onto an employee parking lot, according to emergency radio traffic. A surveillance camera caught him running south on New Orleans Avenue a few minutes later, an officer said on the radio.

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Brinkley Public Schools placed its campus on lockdown, saying the facility Smith escaped from is close to the district. The district asked parents not to come to the schools or try to pick up their children until further notice.

Brinkley police and Monroe County sheriff’s deputies set up a command post at the police department, and the Brinkley Fire Department is assisting. Dispatchers asked Union Pacific to have its train crews report anyone on the tracks because officers believed Smith might follow the rail line to stay out of sight. A helicopter joined the search later in the morning and left around 10:35 a.m. to refuel, according to radio traffic. Brinkley had a drone in the air, and Union Pacific was sending one of its own.

A Division of Correction dog team from the East Arkansas region was called in shortly after 8 a.m., and an Arkansas Highway Police K-9 unit from Wheatley also responded. Command told officers to stay out of the area so the dogs would have a clean trail.

Someone at a bank told officers Smith was seen heading west near Rice Growers Insurance, toward Cypress Street. Around 9:25 a.m., an officer found a white undershirt on the road near Sassy Cuts that was confirmed as Smith’s, and officers held it for the dogs to use as a scent article.

The dog teams arrived about 9:37 a.m. Command then asked Union Pacific to stop rail traffic through the area for at least a couple of hours.

The dogs were tracking along Main Street shortly after 11 a.m. By about 11:30 a.m., the tracking team had reached the area of Willow Street and New Orleans Avenue, according to radio traffic. Command also asked for a paramedic ambulance to stand by because of the number of officers tracking on foot.

Smith was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, yellow pants and white socks, and he was not wearing shoes, according to state police. ASP described him as a Black man about 5 feet 10 inches tall and about 260 pounds. Division of Correction records list him as 5 feet 11 inches tall and about 225 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Smith first entered the state prison system in January 2013 on a 15-year total sentence for Faulkner County convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing methamphetamine or cocaine, prison records show. He also has a 2016 forgery conviction from Monroe County and was placed on probation in a 2004 Phillips County robbery case. In December 2025, he pleaded guilty in Faulkner County to possession of drug paraphernalia and received four years of probation. State police said his arrest history includes aggravated robbery and domestic battery.

Smith is also awaiting trial in Pulaski County on a felony charge of first-degree terroristic threatening and a misdemeanor charge of third-degree domestic battery after a December 2025 arrest by North Little Rock police, court records show. He missed a court date in March, and a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

A judge’s note in September said Smith was being held in the Brinkley City Jail. He was taken to Pulaski County for a Sept. 28 hearing, where he pleaded not guilty. His jury trial is set for Jan. 20 before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Karen Whatley.

Police have not said what charges Smith may face in connection with the escape.

Residents who see Smith should not approach him or try to detain him. Anyone with information should call 911, Brinkley police at 870-734-3434 or Arkansas State Police Troop D at 870-633-1454.

This is a developing story. Arkansas Breaking News will update it as more information is released.