Man pleads guilty to assault charge Court dockets

A Hot Springs man originally charged with kidnapping and aggravated robbery after an incident earlier this year pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault Monday in Garland County Circuit Court.

Duane Robert Starr, 42, who lists an address of 112 Savoy St., was set to stand trial on all the charges Aug. 18, but opted to plead guilty to the aggravated assault charge while the other charges were withdrawn and was sentenced to six years’ probation, fined $ 2,500 and ordered to pay $ 420 in court costs.

Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham said Tuesday that the alleged female victim in the case and Starr “had a relationship of some kind” and while she had initially accused him of kidnapping her and forcing her to remove money at an ATM she later testified on his behalf at a bond hearing in his case.

“She basically said it didn’t happen that way,” he said, noting that if she testified the same way at his trial it would have been very difficult to prove the more serious charges. In her testimony at the bond hearing, she did acknowledge enough of what had happened to prove the assault charge.

“I think it probably happened the way she originally said it did back at the time, but there was no way to get a conviction” with her new testimony, he said. It was also noted Starr had no prior felony history.

Accord-ing to reports, on Jan. 10, Hot Springs police responded to U. S. Bank, 1234 Central Ave., in reference to a disturbance. Detective Langley and Cpl. Hall were advised a suspect had displayed a firearm and fled the scene.

A witness who called in the disturbance followed the suspect, later identified as Starr, after observing a firearm in his vehicle and stated that after reaching the intersection of Clay and Lincoln streets, he exited his vehicle, walked to the middle of the street and fired two shots at the ground.

The witness stated he backed away in his vehicle and heard two or three more shots before Starr fled the scene.

Langley and Hall responded to Starr’s residence, and made contact with Starr and a female who also lived there. The female stated Starr lived with her but she had not seen him in a few days. She said Starr returned that morning and got upset when she gave him a letter from the property owners’ association to evict him. She said Starr fired a shot through the letter and into the floor before holding the gun to her head and threatening to shoot her.

She said Starr forced her to travel to the bank with him and withdraw $ 500 from her account. In the parking lot of U. S. Bank, Starr had an altercation with the witness who called in the disturbance. When the witness left, Starr reportedly followed him, but the female stated they eventually came back to the parking lot. She confirmed Starr showed the witness his firearm at that time and also confirmed Starr fired shots at the Clay and Lincoln intersection before fleeing.

Langley and Hall obtained permission to search the residence and found Starr’s black leather jacket, which contained a loaded handgun and a box of ammunition. Starr was taken into custody and later released on $ 10,000 bond.