6 suspects arrested for recent violent crimes, 7th sought
Hot Springs police said Tuesday that two men and four juvenile males, all of Hot Springs, were arrested Monday for “numerous violent felony acts,” while a seventh suspect remains at large.
“We believe these individuals are responsible for several violent acts in the city in recent months,” Hot Springs Police Chief Jason Stachey said Tuesday. “We believe they are all connected and this group is responsible for them.”
Asked if the offenses were gang-related, Stachey said the police department wasn’t prepared to confirm whether it was gang activity, but officers were “following up on that line of thought” and more charges were pending.
The four juveniles were charged as adults “due to the seriousness and violence of the crime,” police said in a news release. All the suspects remained in custody Tuesday on zero bond pending appearances in Garland County District Court.
The release said Wintrell VaQuint Coleman, 17, Aaron Michael Connelly, 19, Marlon Dupri Sanders, 17, Landon Kyle Davis, 18, Andrew Joshua Brown, 17, and Noah Christopher Merritt, 17, were arrested “within hours of each other” Monday and each charged with felony counts of aggravated robbery, punishable by up to life in prison, and second-degree battery, punishable by up to six years.
Merritt was also charged with felony fleeing, punishable by up to six years, and theft by receiving, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.
The seventh suspect, John Colton Childs, 18, also of Hot
Springs, is wanted on warrants for aggravated robbery, second-degree battery, first-degree criminal mischief and fleeing. The release said Childs should be considered “armed and dangerous” and asked anyone with information to contact police at 501-321-6789.
Some of the charges stem from an incident that occurred at around 3:40 p.m. Jan. 11, according to the arrest affidavit.
Police Officer
Chris Chapin responded to a residence in the 900 block of Cones Road in reference to a robbery and was told by the victim, 52, that five to six young males had attacked him and stolen his wallet while he was in the front yard of the residence.
The victim said he was punched, kicked and struck with what he later identified as a glass bottle, which caused a deep cut near his right eye. One of the males took his wallet, and then they all fled in a black sport utility vehicle.
Chapin made contact with a witness who said she saw Connelly, Brown and several other males attacking the victim. She said all of the males involved in the attack were friends with her son.
At around 4:35 p.m. that day, police Detective Kenny May spoke to the victim at National Park Medical Center. May noted the victim was still bleeding heavily from the cut above his eye and had blood on his right arm, right hand, nose and face and redness and bruising on his left torso.
The victim told May he had arrived at the residence shortly after 3 p.m. When he exited his truck, one of the males, later identified as Davis, called him a“b -- - h ,” and then he was attacked. He said he was struck in the head and fell to the ground, and five to six males then began to hit him in his head and kick him in the torso before fleeing the scene.
After they left, the victim realized his wallet, containing personal cards, identification and money, had been stolen.
On Feb. 2, May interviewed Connelly, who allegedly confirmed he was there when the victim came home and that Davis, who was with him, began to call the victim a“b - - - h .” He said that Coleman, Davis, Brown and Sanders were the main ones involved in the attack.
Connelly said they all fled after the attack in different vehicles, including a black SUV. He said he was in the same vehicle as Davis and observed him taking the victim’s wallet, which he later threw out of the vehicle near Chattanooga Park.
On April 28, Brown was questioned and reportedly said Davis was the one who first attacked the victim and then Childs also started hitting him. Brown said the victim fell to the ground and got back up and then Coleman hit him in the back of the head, which caused the victim to fall again. He said Davis, Childs and Coleman were involved in the attack.
The charges against Merritt reportedly involved an unrelated incident and followed a pursuit by police.
According to that affidavit, at around 4:40 p.m. May 2, police responded to the area of Wise and Vernel streets in reference to a barely conscious male, 14, who stated he had been robbed. He was transported to NPMC by LifeNet and later transferred to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock due to the severity of his injuries.
Police Detective Jarrett Cantrell interviewed the victim after he was released from the hospital on May 3. The victim said a known suspect, Merritt, had texted him at around 4 p.m. May 2, asking him to come to his aunt’s house off Spring Street. The victim drove his moped to the residence on Bethel Street and met with Merritt and another male, later identified as Coleman.
The victim said Merritt told him to follow him to the back of the house so his aunt could let them inside. He said that once they had gotten to the back of the house, Merritt knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He said the three talked for a few minutes on the back porch, and at one point, Merritt bent over “like to tie his shoe.” Merrit then suddenly began hitting the victim multiple times on the right side of his head and face.
The victim said when Merritt stopped hitting him, he saw a rock drop from his hand. The victim attempted to get up when he noticed Coleman and Merritt had taken his wallet and phone and were attempting to drive away on his moped.
The victim said he tried to get up and chase after them when Coleman came back toward him. Coleman then allegedly tackled the victim and punched him on the right side of his face multiple times. Coleman then got on the moped with Merritt and fled the scene.
The victim said the two suspects were throwing up “crip” gang signs and yelling “crip” as they fled.
On Monday, May was in pursuit of a moped and a green Nissan passenger car northbound in the 4000 block of Central Avenue. The Nissan continued northbound, reaching estimated speeds of between 50 and 60 mph. The driver did not slow down, driving through several red lights, disregarding other vehicles and weaving in and out of traffic during the pursuit.
The driver turned the vehicle east onto Plateau Street, where it hit a concrete barrier with its undercarriage. The vehicle was disabled and slowed down to an eventual stop near the intersection of Plateau and Oak streets.
The driver, identified as Merritt, was taken into custody without incident and a computer check later showed the vehicle had reported stolen in the city.