One day after Teen Mom 2 star Ashley Jones announced her graduation from community college, her fiance Bar was arrested on a felony gun charge!
According to jail records, Bariki Lockett Smith was booked into Merced County Jail in California on Sunday, March 16. His charge is listed as willful discharge of firearm in a negligent manner. This means that police believe Bar fired a gun that he knew was loaded in a situation that the shot could have potentially harmed someone. It’s important to note that this charge would cover someone firing a gun in the air during a celebration — like a college graduation party, for example.
The charge can be either a misdemeanor or a felony, and jail records indicate that Bar has been charged with a felony.
Here is information on the distinction between felony and misdemeanor charges in regards to willful discharge of firearm in a negligent manner from LeahLegal.com:
Negligent discharge of a firearm is a wobbler crime, meaning it can fall into either a misdemeanor or felony charge under California law. Penalties depend on the circumstances leading to you discharging the firearm and whether you have a criminal record. The court can issue penalties in the form of probation periods, a jail sentence or fines, and, in some cases, both.
For misdemeanor negligent discharge of a firearm, possible penalties include a maximum county jail term of not more than one year, misdemeanor probation, or a fine of $1,000. On the other hand, a felony charge can earn you a county jail term of sixteen months, two years, or even three years, felony probation, or a fine not exceeding $10,000.
Bar’s bond was listed as $25,000, and he is no longer designated as being in custody.
Jail records indicate that Bar was booked at 9:35 AM. They also indicate that the offense date was May 16 at 9:38 AM, which is 3 minutes after he was booked. So, it’s unclear when he allegedly fired the gun.
In Bar’s mug shot photo, he can be seen wearing a yellow Froot Loops parody shirt that begins with “Shoot” instead of Froot. I’m uncertain what the second word is.
UPDATE – I got a tip that Bar wore the same shirt on a recent episode of Teen Mom 2, and I was able to track down the clip! The shirt reads “Shoot Loots” and features a crown-wearing toucan with dollar sign eyes toting a bag of money and shooting a finger gun. Here are a couple photos:
And Bar’s full mug shot:
Ashley has since scrubbed Bar from her Instagram profile, and neither she nor Bar have commented on his arrest on social media. However, Bar’s mom, Shen, has replied to a few posts suggesting that Bar’s arrest isn’t as bad as it seems.
A commenter jokingly called the arrest a “minor setback” in The Teen Mom Shade Room, which got this response from Shen [with punctuation added]: “It was. It’s registered and he is out. SMH Y’all want my baby to fall so bad. Well, sorry to disappoint u — he is good. Everyone is.”
Here are more unedited interactions with Shen, including a reference to her own gun charge:
COMMENT: They’re stating FACTS. If you can’t handle it, don’t be here. Simple.
SHEN: Sweatheart calm down they don’t know facts love they only c a charge and when I was arrested years ago for a 22 with no clip they put sawed off shotgun so I’m familiar how charges will loook worse he is out everyone is fine and I don’t go left unless it’s the trolls going left about peoples lives they know nothing about except tabloids and tv. So I can handle it I sleep just fine but people get the energy they give and get butt hurt so clearly they r bothered we for sure r not boo
SHEN: and I got tagged in it so that’s why I’m here
@TEENMOM.TEA: It looks like Bar has gotten himself into some trouble 👀 #TeenMom2
SHEN: He is fine and everything is fine
COMMENT: good to see he’s better praying for your family in these hard times
SHEN: thank u Queen he will be okay there r things that r not in the public they just make assumptions. My son will be fine
COMMENT: 🤦🏻♀️ Just when we thought he was growing up and maturing.
SHEN: maybe know what happened before judgement love he is fine and out
COMMENT: Perfect shirt to be wearing 😂
SHEN: 😂😂
I checked court records and couldn’t Bar’s case yet. I’ll be sure to share any major updates or new information.
#TeenMom #TheNextChapter UPDATE – Ashley Jones' husband Bariki "Bar" Lockettsmith has been moved to a CA jail where he is being held on $100,000 bond. He was arrested in NV last month on an outstanding warrant. #TeenMom2 All the latest: https://t.co/XNF6Sz2vWp
— Starcasm (@starcasm) September 14, 2022
Bariki Smith’s arrest history
Bar is no stranger to being inside of a jail cell. In 2015, he was arrested and charged with meth possession, providing false information to a police officer, and trespassing. Bar pleaded not guilty to all three misdemeanor counts. Two of the counts — meth possession and providing false information to police — were dismissed in March of 2016, but Bar received a deferred judgment on the trespassing charge. He would eventually receive three years of probation.
Some time in late 2017-ish, Bar was arrested after an altercation with Ashley and her parents. The altercation and the resulting arrest were featured on Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant. The only additional info we have is from Bar’s mom Shen, who claims that Ashley’s mom, Pastor Tea, went after Bar with a taser! Here’s our tweet with a link:
#TeenMom #YoungAndPregnant Shen says Pastor Tea went after her son @BarikiSmithMTV with a taser the night he was arrested! Plus, Shen and Bar reignite their feud with much 🍵 being spilled: https://t.co/NARS1E8OfP pic.twitter.com/YfFUjPTELT
— Starcasm (@starcasm) May 5, 2018
In August of 2018, Bar was booked for domestic battery after an altercation with Ashley. The discord between the two didn’t end with Bar’s arrest as the two went back and forth on social media after Bar’s release.
“I didn’t put anyone in jail,” Ashley said in response to Shen’s claim that she was responsible for Bar’s arrest. “Maybe if you taught your kids to keep their hands to themselves more of them would have college degrees instead of criminal records. I found my courage today. And I thank the officers that came out and helped me.”
In January of 2020, Bar was booked on a series of charges, including assault, domestic battery, driving or taking a vehicle without owner’s consent, and child endangerment.
From our post about that arrest:
Despite the quantity and the seriousness of the charges, Shen says it was all Ashley’s fault. “She was drunk driving and they got into it,” Shen said of Ashley during a lengthy Facebook live stream. “She attacked him. He was scratched up — scratches all over his neck, everything.”
After they got into a scuffle, Shen says Bar tried to leave, but Ashley took his keys. “So he took her car,” Shen continues, “and when he got back, the police drew down on him and charged him with stealing her car.”
Bar also caught the two assault charges because of the alleged scuffle, and the child endangerment charge because Holly was reportedly present when it happened.
Bar is also no stranger to firearms either. In addition to posing for numerous photos toting guns, he was also shot in the arm when he was a teenager.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
