New trial date set in kidnapping case, bail reduction denied
A trial date has been set for a Sherwood man accused in the attempted kidnapping of a Benton woman in January 2020.
John Brandon Self, 35, has been charged with kidnapping, a class Y felony, and will face a jury trial set from Aug. 24 to 26.
He was originally set to stand trial beginning this week, but the trial was moved to later in the year due to the Arkansas Supreme Court’s extended ban on jury trials due to the COVID19 pandemic.
According to court documents, investigators were dispatched to Hart Road in Benton on Jan. 22, 2020, in relation to an attempted kidnapping. The victim told investigators that a man in a GMC or Chevrolet extended cab pickup, later identified as Self, ran into the rear of her vehicle near the end of her driveway.
As the victim stopped her vehicle to look for her phone, the man opened her door, pointed a gun in her face and ordered her out of the vehicle. The victim told investigators that he was a white male who was wearing a mask, black hoodie, black beanie and dark colored pants.
As he yelled at her to get out of the vehicle, he began to drag her while still holding the gun in his other hand.
Self allegedly struck her several times as she attempted to fight him off and that when she struck him in the face, a portion of the mask raised up exposing a beard. She was also able to knock the beanie off of his head. The victim described her attacker as tall, slender with rough hands and that he smelled of cigarettes and had a deep voice.
After allegedly dragging the victim to his truck, Self told the victim to be quiet and put his hand over the victim’s mouth. The victim continued to fight her attacker and was able to pull out of her sweater and flee to her house where family members called the police. The suspect then got back into his truck and fled the scene.
A bystander witness was able to
provide investigators with a description of the truck and said that the attacker was driving too fast to keep up with.
During the investigation, the victim told detectives that earlier that same day, as she left her place of employment in Little Rock to return home to Benton, she noticed a truck driving aggressively on Interstate 440 that pulled up beside her. She also stated she saw the same truck again on Arkansas 5 and Salem Road. The truck continued to follow her as she neared her home.
A supervisor at the victim’s place of employment was contacted by investigators. After being given a description of the man who attacked the victim, the supervisor told investigators that a man named John Self, who also worked at the same place, matched the description.
Court documents also state that the supervisor told investigators that Self usually came to work at the same time the victim takes her lunch break. He also stated that Self took his lunch break that same day at 5 p.m., the same time as the victim left for home. Self did not return from his half-hour lunch break that day until 6:45 p.m. and allegedly told the supervisor that he did not make it back to work after his lunch break because had been in an accident and that his truck had hydroplaned.
Security camera footage showed Self at work the same day wearing a black hoodie and black beanie and that he parked his truck next to the victim while she was eating lunch in her vehicle. It was also established that when the victim left work for the day at 5:03 p.m., Self had already left just prior to her departure, but did not clock out for lunch.
According to the affidavit, Self was a reported suspect in Pulaski County in December 2019 for following a woman to her residence and leaving the scene. He also has several felony convictions and leaving the scene of an accident involving death or injury.
Self is currently in custody at the Saline County Detention on a $1 million dollar bond, although his attorney recently request his bond be reduced. The request was denied by Saline County Circuit Judge Josh Farmer.