Man 13th held up in LR neighborhood

Police asking for help from community after series of armed robberies

As police continued to investigate a spate of armed robberies in a southwest Little Rock neighborhood, another person was held at gunpoint Monday night.

Police increased patrols in the neighborhood and changed officers’ schedules in response to the robberies, and they were seeking more information from the public to develop suspects, according to spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen.

Thirteen people have been held at gunpoint in the neighborhood, a roughly 2-square-mile area straddling Baseline Road south of Interstate 30, since Jan. 20. One of them was shot.

Police assigned additional officers to the area after six robberies occurred within a two-hour span the evening of Jan. 27.

“We have pulled out some of those resources, but we have re-allocated some of the officers and their priorities,” Allen said Tuesday. “Some of the SWAT guys have been moved from day shift operations to evening operations to kind of give us more visible manpower.”

The latest holdup occurred about 7:45 p.m. Monday at 3 Larry Drive, where 51-year-old Guadalupe Montiel was outside a residence when a black man pressed a gun to his back. The man searched Montiel’s pockets but didn’t take anything, according to a police report. The man then ran to a nearby vehicle occupied by two other black men, and the group fled.

It was a familiar setup. In most of the robberies, suspects described as black males held up people outside their homes. Several victims, including Montiel, told po- Morris

Drive lice that the robbers used a silver handgun and fled in a sedan. Some believe they were followed home by the robbers.

Police have noted the similarities and descriptions of suspects. Robert Earl Corney, a 20-year-old resident of the neighborhood, has been charged in one of the holdups. They questioned Corney about the others, investigating the possibility that he was part of a robbery crew.

But it hasn’t been enough to make additional arrests, Allen said.

Police pulled over a suspect after one of the robberies but ended up charging the man with unrelated offenses. They also questioned a man and his 13-year-old son after a robbery victim’s roommate followed them home. The roommate believed they were suspects.

“We’re still depending heavily on the community to give us some good infor- Larry Drive mation,” Allen said. “We can look around and look at videos and talk to people ourselves, but until we get people that are willing to give us credible information for us to look into, it’s difficult for us to catch someone.”

Several of the victims have been non-English speaking Hispanics, according to police reports. Officers reported speaking to some of them through translators. Allen said language barriers typically don’t hinder an investigation, but other factors might.

“There are some times in which they may not be here legally, they’re not documented and they’re afraid that we may deport them. But that’s absolutely not the case. We don’t ask you Barwood Circle S. Heights Road what your status is. We don’t ask if you’re a registered or a non-registered citizen. If you are a victim of a crime, that is what we’re there to investigate,” he said.

An investigation is ongoing.