Hot Springs woman arrested by county TRT after alleged home invasion, assault
A Hot Springs woman was arrested early Thursday following an alleged home invasion and assault involving an elderly person after the Garland County Sheriff’s Tactical Response Team surrounded the residence.
Jennifer Marie Coster, 52, who lists a Grayleaf Court address, was booked into the Garland County Detention Center shortly after 7:30 a.m. on felony charges of aggravated residential burglary, punishable by up to life in prison, and second-degree battery, punishable by up to six years, and was being held on zero bond.
At around 11:16 p.m. Wednesday, the Garland County Communications Center received a call about an alleged assault on an elderly person in their residence in the 100 block of Carl Finch Road, sheriff’s Sgt. John Schroeder, the department’s public information officer, said in a news release.
“The victim was able to get out of the home and fled to the safety of a neighbor’s house,” he said.
The person told deputies they had been physically attacked by two people who had broken into their residence. Deputies in patrol units observed people inside the victim’s home through the windows and a perimeter was established. Criminal investigators, the Tactical Response
Team and
Crisis Negotiation Team all responded to the scene, according to the release.
Multiple announcements were made by negotiators, but were ineffective, at which point TRT made entry into the residence. The team located a woman, later identified as Coster, hiding in a downstairs utility room and took her into custody.
The residence was then “thoroughly searched” by the GCSO K-9 unit, TRT and CID, the release said.
According to court records, Coster lists no prior felony history, but was convicted of five counts of misdemeanor theft of property on June 6, 2022, after a trial in Garland County District Court and sentenced to one year in jail, all suspended, one year of supervised probation and was fined $680.
On Sept. 12, 2022, she was charged with failure to comply with the conditions of her probation and it was noted she was considered “high risk for substance abuse” and her case was later adjudicated through drug court which she completed.