A 36-year-old police officer in the small East Arkansas town of Palestine was booked into the St. Francis County Jail this week on a charge tied to the shooting of two family dogs inside a woman's home, an incident she says unfolded with six children watching. Harold Holland was booked at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesday and released less than two hours later, at 1:50 p.m., according to jail records.
The public booking record lists first-degree assault as the charge, according to St. Francis County Sheriff's Office records. The charge has been described differently in public accounts: WREG reported that the sheriff's office initially said Holland faced aggravated assault for allegedly firing several shots inside the home and killing two dogs, while Haley Smallwood said he was charged with first-degree assault for firing close to her. The booking record reflects the first-degree-assault charge, but the discrepancy in the public descriptions has not been resolved.
Smallwood says the shooting happened on July 28, when Holland responded to her home. In an account reported by WREG, she said Holland fired inside the house and killed two family dogs. Holland has said the dogs were being aggressive, according to WREG, while Smallwood disputes that characterization and says she was standing beside one of the dogs when Holland opened fire.
Six Children Were Inside the Home
Smallwood said six children were inside her home when the shots were fired, and that her family is now grieving the loss of both dogs. Under Arkansas law, courts must assess an additional mandatory $100 fine for first-degree assault and other violent offenses when the trier of fact determines the crime was committed in the presence of a child, according to FindLaw.
The gap between the two described charges carries real legal weight. First-degree assault is a Class A misdemeanor in Arkansas, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, while aggravated assault is a Class D felony that can bring up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to Justia Law. The sheriff's office turned over its findings to the prosecuting attorney, who determined the charge ultimately filed, as reported by WREG.
Police Chief Reviewed Bodycam Footage
According to WREG, Palestine Police Chief Jeff Nichols said he reviewed Holland's body-camera video and was concerned that Holland fired while Smallwood stood next to one of the dogs. Nichols turned the department's internal investigation over to the St. Francis County Sheriff's Office, while the department also conducted its own review.
Smallwood has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Palestine Police Department for Holland's body-camera footage and is still waiting for a response. Under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, public agencies may temporarily withhold body-camera footage while a criminal investigation remains active, according to the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. WREG reported that it could not reach the Palestine Police Department to confirm whether Holland remained employed there.
A Separate Arkansas Case
In a separate Arkansas incident reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on July 22, 2026, released body-camera footage showed a Little Rock officer retreating into the street before fatally shooting a Labrador retriever that ran toward him barking in the Heights neighborhood. The publicly released footage distinguishes that case from the Palestine incident, where Smallwood is still seeking the body-camera recording; the available account does not establish the two cases had the same investigation or outcome.
A Familiar Pattern in Rural Policing
The shooting adds to a well-documented national pattern. U.S. Department of Justice estimates cited by The Trace indicate police officers nationwide shoot and kill roughly 10,000 pet dogs each year, averaging 25 to 30 dogs a day, and data from the Animal Legal Defense Fund shows that encountering a dog is among the most common reasons an officer fires a service weapon in the line of duty.
In response to fatal police dog shootings elsewhere, some states have moved to mandate training. Missouri's Teddy's Law requires four hours of specialized officer training in canine behavior and non-lethal de-escalation methods, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund. No such statewide mandate currently applies in Arkansas.
Palestine is a tiny community along Interstate 40 in St. Francis County, recorded at 506 residents in the 2020 Census with a median household income of $36,090, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. The town's population has fallen sharply in recent years, dropping 25.7 percent between 2010 and 2020, from 681 residents down to 506, according to Wikipedia. For Smallwood's family, the case now sits with prosecutors while she continues waiting on the bodycam footage she says could show exactly what happened inside her home.
