Questions Raised About Bizarre Break-in At Hendrix College President's Home
By: Lauren Trager, KARK 4 News
Updated: February 18, 2013
There are new details about the now former president of one of Arkansas' most revered colleges.
Friday, we learned the man at the helm of Hendrix College in Conway had suddenly stepped down.
Some students say they were caught off-guard by the sudden resignation of Hendrix President J. Timothy Cloyd.
But some say they were completely unaware of what happened just after midnight on December 26 at the college-owned home Cloyd lives in.
Conway Police say they were following a suspected thief who'd burst into the Cloyd's home.
"When they go to that house on Winfield they heard someone screaming, "he's inside, he is inside," said LaTresha Woodruff with the Conway Police Department.
But according to a police report we obtained, it seems Cloyd was trying to take matters into his own hands.
Officers say Cloyd had "a strong smell of an intoxicating beverage about his person, and his speech was slightly slurred."
The report says Cloyd was waiving a handgun with his finger on the trigger.
One officer explained what Cloyd was saying.
He says Cloyd was pointing his weapon in the direction of the suspect and said 'I am going to kill that m***** f***** myself." The officer says he ordered Cloyd to drop the weapon and he refused by responding "this is my ******** house, **** you."
Conway Police say Cloyd refused multiple times to put his gun down, until they made him.
"The officer did physically take the weapon from him," said Woodruff.
Woodruff says Cloyd had a concealed carry license. Protecting his family wasn't the issue, it was his refusal to listen that worried them.
"They are there on scene and they are asking you to step down, then that's what you do," she said.
No one answered the door at the home when we went there Monday. Cloyd, who will still teach at the school, will continue to live there until the end of 2013.
Some students we spoke with say what happened, though, may now cast another light on the educational leader.
"I'm not in to having firearms so I don't know, that's concerning. That's concerning," said Mimi Saylors, a senior at Hendrix.
No one from the college was available for an on-camera interview. But we did receive an email back to our question of whether this incident had anything to do with Cloyd's resignation with just a one word answer: no.
Friday, we learned the man at the helm of Hendrix College in Conway had suddenly stepped down.
Some students say they were caught off-guard by the sudden resignation of Hendrix President J. Timothy Cloyd.
But some say they were completely unaware of what happened just after midnight on December 26 at the college-owned home Cloyd lives in.
Conway Police say they were following a suspected thief who'd burst into the Cloyd's home.
"When they go to that house on Winfield they heard someone screaming, "he's inside, he is inside," said LaTresha Woodruff with the Conway Police Department.
But according to a police report we obtained, it seems Cloyd was trying to take matters into his own hands.
Officers say Cloyd had "a strong smell of an intoxicating beverage about his person, and his speech was slightly slurred."
The report says Cloyd was waiving a handgun with his finger on the trigger.
One officer explained what Cloyd was saying.
He says Cloyd was pointing his weapon in the direction of the suspect and said 'I am going to kill that m***** f***** myself." The officer says he ordered Cloyd to drop the weapon and he refused by responding "this is my ******** house, **** you."
Conway Police say Cloyd refused multiple times to put his gun down, until they made him.
"The officer did physically take the weapon from him," said Woodruff.
Woodruff says Cloyd had a concealed carry license. Protecting his family wasn't the issue, it was his refusal to listen that worried them.
"They are there on scene and they are asking you to step down, then that's what you do," she said.
No one answered the door at the home when we went there Monday. Cloyd, who will still teach at the school, will continue to live there until the end of 2013.
Some students we spoke with say what happened, though, may now cast another light on the educational leader.
"I'm not in to having firearms so I don't know, that's concerning. That's concerning," said Mimi Saylors, a senior at Hendrix.
No one from the college was available for an on-camera interview. But we did receive an email back to our question of whether this incident had anything to do with Cloyd's resignation with just a one word answer: no.
