Youth tries to rob, then burglarizes, local woman
A Hot Springs teen was arrested Wednesday on felony warrants after he allegedly attempted to rob a woman at gunpoint last month and then attacked her and burglarized her house along with a juvenile accomplice a week later.
Rongerald Daytoine Witherspoon, 18, who lists a Juniper Place address, was taken into custody shortly after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and charged with aggravated residential burglary, punishable by up to life in prison, criminal attempt at aggravated robbery, punishable by up to 30 years, second-degree battery and theft of
property over $1,000, both punishable by up to six years.
He remained in custody Thursday on zero bond, and is set to appear in Garland County District Court on Sept. 9.
According to the affidavit, a local woman reported an unknown male suspect pulled a gun on her and struck her on the head with his fist during a robbery attempt on July 6.
She said she was looking inside the back seat of her car at 827 Park Ave. when the suspect displayed a firearm and stated, “I know you have $150.” She said she responded “Are you trying to rob me?”, prompting the suspect to strike her on the head.
She said she grabbed a pipe from her back seat to defend herself and the suspect fled the area without getting any money.
A juvenile bystander who reportedly observed the incident gave Hot Springs police a description of the suspect and claimed he recognized him, providing officers with a name and corroborating the victim’s version of events.
On July 15, the same woman reported a second incident at her home where she was accosted, and her car was allegedly stolen by two young men. She told police she was asleep at her Park Avenue residence around 2 a.m. when her dogs began barking, causing her to wake up.
She said as she sat up in bed, she saw two men bent down on the stairwell outside. She demanded that they leave, but instead they allegedly rushed her, put a blanket over her head and hit her in the head numerous times.
She said she was able to break free and escape her house, while the suspects reportedly stole her purse, a cellphone and her car keys.
A neighbor reportedly came out of her apartment and saw two male suspects standing next to the victim’s vehicle trying to get in and recognized one of them.
The two suspects reportedly returned to the victim’s apartment and the older one began to punch her in the face multiple times, before running back to her vehicle, a 2005 Monte Carlo, and driving away.
The victim said she recognized one suspect as the same juvenile who had reported witnessing the attempted robbery on July 6, but she did not know the other suspect, later identified as Witherspoon. She told officers the unknown suspect was the same man that had pulled a gun on her on July 6.
Later that same day, the juvenile and Witherspoon were stopped by authorities in Center, Texas, driving the victim’s car.
On July 20, the victim identified Witherspoon from a photo lineup as the man who entered her residence without permission and burglarized her, and as the man who attempted to rob her on July 6. She was also able to identify the juvenile.
The Sentinel-Record follows The Associated Press privacy policies and does not publish the names of juvenile offenders unless they are charged as adults.
The woman suffered from a broken nose, a head injury, bruising to her face and an undiagnosed medical issue with her right ear reportedly sustained during the attack.