Ex-North Little Rock officer charged with assault after shooting at fleeing man, hitting nearby occupied car

A North Little Rock officer who on July 19 shot at a fleeing suspect who he thought was armed, striking a bystander's car in the process, resigned Monday and turned himself in to face criminal charges, a police news release states.

Jesse Gossage, 27, fired at least five shots at an unidentified man who jumped out of his vehicle and fled on foot around 12:14 a.m. on July 19 near the intersection of East Washington Avenue and Birch Street, the release and an included affidavit written by a police detective state.

Gossage tried to pull the man over near the intersection of East Washington Avenue and Buckeye Street, but the driver of the Honda did not stop, he told investigators.

The fleeing man had a small dark object in his hands that Gossage thought was a gun, he told investigators.