Malvern teen pleads guilty to two local burglaries
A Malvern teen pleaded guilty Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court to two burglaries committed on the same day last summer and was sentenced to five years’ probation.
Giorgio Malek Shaw, 19, of Malvern, who was set to stand trial Wednesday, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of residential burglary and was sentenced to five years of supervised probation on each count, to run concurrently, fined
$1,000, and ordered to pay $590 in court costs and $361.35 in restitution to one victim for damages.
According to arrest affidavits, on June 19, 2016, shortly before 5:30 a.m., Hot Springs police responded to an alarm at a residence in the 500 block of Richard Street and discovered someone had broken out the laundry room window and cut the screens to two bedroom windows on opposite sides of the house, with damage estimated at $500.
The suspect entered the residence through the laundry room window and exited through a bedroom window. Blood was located on top of a washer and on the door frame in one bedroom. The homeowner later noted a television in the living room had been unplugged and moved.
Police reviewed security camera footage that showed a suspect attempting to make entry and HSPD Detective Jarrett Cantrell recognized the suspect as Shaw, who could be seen cutting a window screen. He went out of camera view at one point at the same time the alarm sounded. Shaw had fled the scene before officers arrived.
Shortly before 11:30 a.m. that same day, police were dispatched to breaking or entering in progress in the 200 block of Chitwood Street and made contact with one homeowner who was pointing to a residence up the street saying, “He went back there.”
Officers proceeded to the rear of the house she indicated where they heard another female screaming from inside. They made contact with the homeowner, who screamed, “He’s in my house!” The officers entered the house and located a male, later identified as Shaw, walking down the hallway wearing a T-shirt that belonged to the homeowner’s son.
He was detained and found to be in possession of several U.S. silver certificate dollars and $2 and
$5 bills that the victim identified as belonging to her.
The first homeowner who had called came to the scene and identified Shaw as the male she had seen trying to break into her brother’s vehicle, hitting the driver’s side window with a rock. She said when she confronted him he fled toward the rear of the other house.
Shaw was taken into custody and later released on $8,250 bond pending trial. He was arrested again Monday after allegedly fleeing the scene of a traffic stop and charged with misdemeanor fleeing with that charge still pending in Garland County District Court.
• A former employee of Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market pleaded guilty Tuesday in circuit court to stealing almost $7,000 from the business last year.
Kila N. Richmond, 31, who had no prior criminal history, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft of property over $5,000 and was sentenced to five years’ probation, fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $420 in court costs and $6,934.33 in restitution to Wal-Mart.
According to the affidavit, on Dec. 6, 2016, HSPD Officer Micheal Stone responded to the store, located at 1544 Malvern Ave., and spoke with the loss prevention officer who stated she had reviewed store video the day before following some register shortages and discovered Richmond, a cashier, had taken money from several registers on different dates.
On Dec. 6, Richmond came to work and was placed on a register and at 1:34 p.m. removed $240 from the register. She was interviewed by loss prevention officers and admitted to taking the $240.
A further review revealed similar thefts by Richmond on Nov. 12, 13, 27, 28 and 29 and on Dec.
2, with amounts varying from $480 up to $973, for a total of $6,934.33.
Richmond was interviewed by detectives and admitted to working on the dates listed and to taking money, but she did not believe it totaled as much as alleged. She was arrested that same day and later released on $3,500 bond.