A man with a prior felony conviction out of Arizona was arrested last week in Seminole after police responded to reports of a man walking around with a gun and assaulting a woman with a tennis racket.

John Paul Hendley II, 33, was arrested on Feb. 27 and faces charges of possession of a firearm after a former felony conviction and misdemeanor assault and battery.

According to an affidavit, Patrolman Gabriel Wind of the Seminole Police Department was dispatched to 900 Lincoln Street regarding a man walking up and down the street carrying a gun. As he was en route, dispatch told Wind that the suspect had gotten into a tan vehicle and headed north on Boren Blvd. Wind left that scene and began searching for the vehicle.

Wind and Corp. Logan Gray were informed that a male, identified as Hendley, had allegedly assaulted a woman with a tennis racket at a house on Ideal Street then left the scene.

As Gray made his way to the Ideal Street residence and Wind continued to look for the vehicle in question, Lieutenant Brad Mason contacted central dispatch for a vehicle tag check. When the results came back, Wind went to the registered owner’s residence, and was told that the vehicle had been recently sold to Hendley and his girlfriend, Rena Meyers.

Wind went back to the original scene and upon arrival, he was informed that dispatch had received another call that Hendley had returned and was trying to leave in a vehicle.

Wind and Mason observed a man and woman in a tan car and one male standing by a silver vehicle. Both officers drew their weapons and ordered the individuals to the ground.

Once all three subjects were on the ground, Wind placed the two males in hand restraints and Gray placed the female in hand restraints. Wind then assisted the male standing by the silver car, who was identified as Hendley, to a standing position and escorted him to his patrol unit.

According to the affidavit, an inventory of the vehicle yielded a black Smith and Wesson M&P handgun with eight bullets in the magazine. When asked about the gun, which was found in the backseat, Hendley allegedly said he wasn’t even around the gun and he was only there to fix a flat tire. Lindley also allegedly stated that the gun belonged to Meyers.

A witness told police that they had seen Hendley walking around with a gun in his hand, and the reporting party said Hendley had been sitting in a silver car and had taken off on foot, but was picked by a tan vehicle.

The alleged assault victim told Wind in an interview that she wanted to expose “illegal activity” conducted by Hendley and Meyers, so she went to their residence to take pictures. She said Hendley pointed a gun at her then followed her home on Ideal, where he hit her in the head with a tennis racket.

Hendley was transported to the Seminole County Jail and booked in without incident. According to court records, Hendley has two previous arrests in Seminole, one in 2016 and the other in 2018. Both times, Hendley was charged with being a fugitive from justice.

The 2018 arrest affidavit states that Hendley was in Seminole to avoid prosecution in Arizona for parole violations. In 2012, he was convicted in Yuma of trafficking stolen property.