Man pleads guilty to burglary of 501 Prime
A Hot Springs man arrested last year for the burglary of a local restaurant after being identified through social media pleaded guilty Monday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Sean Christopher Singleton, 39, who had no prior criminal history, pleaded guilty to one count of commercial burglary, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and was sentenced to eight years in prison, with the entire sentence suspended, fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $190 in court costs and $1,000 in restitution to 501 Prime, 215 E. Grand Ave.
An additional felony charge of theft of property over $1,000 was withdrawn by prosecutors as part of the plea deal.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Jan. 10, 2019, the manager of 501 Prime reported that a burglary had occurred at the restaurant on Jan. 4, shortly after 8 a.m. The male robber could be
seen on surveillance video entering the rear of the business wearing a large coat, a wig and a gray hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head. The robber’s face could be clearly seen in the video as he entered the closed restaurant, went upstairs to the locked office and entered through an unlocked rear door.
The robber removed $1,100 from petty cash and tip outs from the waiting staff that were kept in the office and then left through the same door he entered within about five minutes. An employee had just unlocked the rear door for another employee to arrive and was using the restroom when he heard the man enter the restaurant.
When the employee heard the rear door bug fan running again after the man left, “he knew something wasn’t right,” the affidavit states, and ran out the back door looking for whoever just left.
He encountered the man in the parking lot dropping money, but “at first glance” thought it was a woman because of the wig the robber was wearing and helped him pick up the dropped money.
It was later discovered the office had been burglarized and it was the man in the parking lot who took the money.
A still photo of the robber was posted on the Hot Springs Police Department’s Facebook page and detectives received an anonymous tip that the robber was Singleton. Detective John Hammons was able to obtain a photo of Singleton for comparison and identified him as the robber in the video.
Singleton was arrested on May 22, 2019, and released two days later on a $7,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Sept. 9 and was set to stand trial on May 5 but the case was continued and reset for a deposition hearing on Monday.