Arkansas News Digest, 11-8

— Woman injured after man tried to take infant

LITTLE ROCK - A woman was injured after fighting with an attacker who tried to remove her baby from the backseat of her car in Little Rock early Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Police were dispatched to the 7000 block of E. Wakefield Drive shortly before 4:30 a.m., according to a report.

The victim, 30, told police she had just pulled into her carport after dropping her husband off at work when an assailant tried to put his hand through her car door, the report stated. She closed the door on his hand, and the attacker then tried to pull the woman’s baby from the backseat, authorities said.

According to the woman, she fought with her attacker, grabbing at his hair while he hit her in the shin with a baseball bat, police said. The assailant grabbed her neck and took the chain she was wearing, along with a diaper bag, before running away, the report stated.

Authorities said emergency medical services treated the victim on the scene, but she refused to go to the hospital with them, telling paramedics she would go on her own.

Police described the assailant as a medium-built black male, with brown eyes, medium-length hair and a tattoo on his neck. He was wearing a gray sweater and blue jeans at the time, the report stated.

Little Rock man hit in leg during drive-by shooting

LITTLE ROCK - A Little Rock man was hit in the leg during a drive-by shooting at a south Little Rock convenience store Tuesday night, authorities said.

Officers found 57-year-old Larry Jones lying on the ground outside the Asher One Stop at 2608 S. Maple Street around 10:30 p.m., a Little Rock Police Department report states. Authorities said the victim appeared to have a bullet wound on the upper part of his right leg, near his groin.

Witnesses told police they saw someone in a vehicle shoot at the store from the intersection of Maple Street and Asher Avenue before leaving north on Maple, according to the report.

Officers cut off Jones’ pant leg and applied a tourniquet to the wound while waiting for paramedics to arrive, authorities said. Emergency medical services took Jones to UAMS Medical Center to be treated, the report states, though authorities did not indicate the extent of the man’s injuries.

According to the report, the officer who applied the tourniquet, who was the first responder, got Jones’ blood on his face and arms and may have gotten blood in his eyes or mouth. The officer was sent to Baptist Hospital for treatment. Witnesses said the shots came from a black Jeep Cherokee with a temporary tag, but told police they could not see anyone inside the vehicle, according to the report.

Police did not provide any other details on the identity of the suspects.

Car stolen in carjacking is now recovered in Texas

LITTLE ROCK - Two people held an Arkansas man at gunpoint and stole his car, which was later crashed during a pursuit in Texas, authorities said.

The 32-year-old victim reported that his vehicle was stolen about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday outside a Motel 6 at 10524 W. Markham St. in Little Rock, according to a report from the city’s Police Department.

Officers said the Bryant resident gave one of the individuals, a 19-year-old Little Rock man who was renting a room at the motel, a ride to get something to eat. When they returned, the second person pointed a gun at the victim and stole his 2017 Hyundai Elantra.

The teen got in the car before it drove away, the report states.

Police later received information from the Hunt County, Texas, sheriff’s office that deputies had recovered the vehicle during a pursuit near Caddo Mills. The driver crashed the car and was taken into custody.

The person listed as a suspect did not appear on the Hunt County jail’s online inmate roster as of Wednesday afternoon. It was unclear if the 19-year-old was arrested.

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