Two men from Arkansas were arrested after a night of drinking led to them trying to shoot each other while they both wore a bulletproof vest, sheriff’s deputies said.
The story started Sunday when Charles Ferris told a Benton County sheriff's deputy about how he was hired to protect someone who paid him $200 to follow him into the woods in Rogers, Arkansas, KFSM reported.
Ferris claimed he and Christopher Hicks met another man and a gunfight broke out. Ferris said he was hit six times, but also shot back before driving away with the man he called the "asset." The man dropped Ferris off at his car and Ferris drove himself to the hospital, according to KFSM.
But deputies said Ferris’ story was just an elaborate cover story for the men.
Deputies found out when Ferris' wife arrived at the hospital and told them what really happened -- Ferris and Hicks shot each other while drinking on the back porch of Ferris' home, KFSM reported.
Ferris came clean to law enforcement, telling them he made the story up to keep Hicks out of trouble.
Ferris was wearing a bulletproof vest and asked Hicks to shoot him with a .22-caliber rifle. The vest worked, stopping the bullet, but the impact left a mark on his chest.
Then Hicks put on the vest, KHBS reported.
He said he was upset that being shot hurt, he unloaded the clip from his gun into Hicks' back, bruising him, according to KFSM.
Ferris told his wife he was OK after the shooting, but complained that it hurt so she told him to go to the hospital.
Ferris and HIcks were both arrested, charged with aggravated assault, which is a Class D felony, punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. They are both free on $5,000 bond and the neighbors were told not to have contact with each other by a judge, KHBS reported.
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