The Stephen Bright Files
This site contains public records outlining disturbing allegations of abuse by Stephen Bright. These public records were obtained from the Little Rock Police Department, Maumelle Police Department, and the Pulaski County Circuit and County Clerk's Office.
The Public Record
Order of Protection
The Police Reports Stephen Bright Can’t Explain Away Page 5: In her own handwriting, under penalty of perjury, the 2nd wife describes March 22, 2007: “He was pushing me, tried to take my daughter from me, told me he would get me.” Page 6: Asked to list past abuse, she wrote: “Choked me, cut me, kicked me, picked me up & thrown me, held a pillow over my head & repeatedly threatens me.” Page 8: A Maumelle police sergeant’s report from March 21, 2007. The 2nd wife called police because Bright had locked her out of her own home. When she tried to get in, Bright allegedly raced inside and locked the doors. When she slipped through the garage, he tried to shut a door on her, and she got caught between the door and the frame. The officer writes that he told Bright to stop pushing. The 2nd wife then locked herself in a bathroom and told the officer she didn’t know what Bright would do and didn’t want to be alone with him. Bright’s response? He told police he wanted her arrested. Page 7: The very next night, police were back. Officers found the couple yelling at each other in front of the house. Bright called in the Maumelle city attorney, who came to the home and talked the 2nd wife into leaving for the night.
Abuse Allegations — Court Filings
In 2007, Stephen Bright’s second wife signed a court filing under oath, under penalty of perjury, making the following explosive allegations. Her lawyers attached letters Bright wrote himself, admitting to verbal abuse and “becoming physical.” Pages 1–3: The filing describes a home so volatile that Maumelle’s police chief reportedly said every one of his officers knew the address. Bright allegedly choked his wife, smothered her with a pillow, threw her, and cut her with a car key, leaving a scar. When she fled in her car, he allegedly pounded his fists on the window. He allegedly threatened to kill her mother, blocked her in a bathroom, and told her he was going to “get” her, often in front of their two small children. Their 4-year-old son allegedly tried to protect his mother. Page 4: Bright’s own words, from a letter trying to win her back. He admits their fights got “so fueled with anger” that he let them turn physical. He also admits he promised to get help just to tell her “what you wanted to hear.” Pages 7–9: The original typed letter with his admissions. Pages 10–12: A handwritten letter apologizing for “dishonesty, manipulation” and the pain they caused. Pages 13–16: Bright’s letter to his in-laws, where he describes his “issues of anger & control” and admits he hurt many people, “especially” his wife.
Little Rock Police Reports
Stephen Bright lived in Little Rock for roughly six years. Between 2011 and 2017, Little Rock police were called about Stephen Bright again and again. Here’s what officers wrote down. Page 12: June 2013. Bright’s 3rd wife was filing for divorce and having the locks changed. She told police Bright came home angry about it, and that she didn’t feel safe around him because of his “rages” of anger. She was packing a bag to leave with their 11-month-old daughter. Page 21: October 2015. When police arrived, Bright walked out and told officers everything was fine and they weren’t needed. Then his wife came out behind him and waved an officer inside. She told police he had sudden fits of rage over the smallest things, and that it had been at least two years since he’d put his hands on her. Their 3-year-old was in the home. Page 26: November 2015. A court employee tried to serve Bright with divorce and no-contact papers. According to the report, Bright told her he wasn’t Stephen Bright, he was his brother. When she tried to hand him the papers, he allegedly ran inside, locked the door, and shut the garage door with her still inside. She had to lift it herself to get out. Page 34: Two weeks later, the 3rd wife came home to find her back kitchen window busted out, with dried blood around it. She told police she had a restraining order against Bright and believed he was the one who did it. Page 55: May 2017. The 3rd wife asked police to stand by at child custody exchanges because, she said, Bright was becoming more “violent.”