Former Arkansas security guard pleads guilty to manslaughter
LITTLE ROCK AR January 8 2020 A former security guard charged in the death of a man while working at the Family Flux Festival in Faulkner County in March 2018 has pled guilty.
Jacob Tschopp, 33, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Austin Dodson, 24.
Authorities say that he and a co-defendant, Anthony Paul Flick, 36, reportedly put Dodson in a chokehold. Tschopp said during a plea hearing that he also sat on Dodson.
Dodson was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in Conway, where he was later pronounced dead and authorities ruled his death was ruled a homicide.
The medical examiner reported that Dodson likely died from “choke-hold strangulation due to the hemorrhaging of the neck.” Prosecutors said the medical examiner believes that Dodson would’ve survived his injuries if Tschopp hadn’t sat on him.
A sentencing hearing was set for March 27. Tschopp faces up to 10 years in prison.
Flick faces a charge of aggravated assault. He has pleaded not guilty. A trial was set for March 9.
