CAMDEN — H.S. bank robber gets 12-year prison sentence
HOT SPRINGS - An Arkansan arrested last year less than 30 minutes after robbing a bank was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison.
Henry Smith, 67, was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2017 on one count of bank robbery and pleaded guilty March 5. Smith, who has a lengthy criminal history including previous convictions for bank robbery, was sentenced Friday to 12 years and seven months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to a news release.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Hot Springs police detective Mark Fallis responded to Citizens Bank, 150 Airport Road, on Nov. 8, 2017, around 2:45 p.m.
He said he made contact with two employees who stated an unknown black male, wearing a black ball cap, sunglasses, a ski mask and blue shirt had walked into the bank.
One employee told police the man he would have to remove his hat and glasses but instead he walked up to the other employee, put a small black drawstring bag on the counter in front of her, demanding money. Authorities said he also told her he had a gun and she needed to hurry.
The employee put an undisclosed amount of cash in the bag, and the man fled on foot, court records show.
Other officers were in the area and located Smith behind the buildings at Hot Springs Plaza, 1609 Albert Pike, and took him into custody. Police noted that officers found the stolen cash and other items on Smith at the time of his arrest.
Smith, a Hot Springs, was brought to the city’s Police Department for questioning and admitted to robbing the bank, authorities said.
Elderly man is charged with rape of two children
FAYETTEVILLE - A 69-year-old man remained in an Arkansas jail Thursday afternoon, a week after he was arrested on multiple charges of rape and sexual indecency with children, two of whom were under the age of 13, authorities said.
Donald Bonner, who was arrested in Fayetteville on Oct. 9, faces two counts of rape and two counts of sexual indecency with a child, a preliminary report from the city’s Police Department shows.
The state Department of Human Services received information Aug. 9 that Bonner had raped two children age 12 or under, according to authorities. The children “were in his care several times,” the report states.
During an Oct. 9 interview, Bonner went to the Police Department and told officers he had had sex with the two children who had reported his behavior and two other youths.
When asked why he had sexual contact with one of the girls, he replied, “I just wanted to have sex with her,” according to the report.
Police released him after the interview and the 69-year-old was later arrested at an apartment on Kaywood Lane.
The report states that Bonner is from Seligman, Mo., but the Washington County jail inmate roster shows a Springdale address.
Questions about Bonner’s hometown were not immediately answered by the Washington County sheriff’s office Thursday afternoon.
Records show he was being held in lieu of a $250,000 bond. Bonner is set to appear in court Nov. 9.
H.S. man is charged with
having sex with teen girl
HOT SPRINGS - A Hot Springs man is accused of having sex with a teen girl earlier this year.
John Martin Breshears, 23, was arrested Tuesday by Garland County sheriff’s investigators on a warrant for fourth-degree sexual assault, punishable by up to six years in prison.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a 15-year-old girl told authorities in July that she and Breshears had been dating since February but did not have a sexual relationship.
Breshears was later interviewed, and he said the pair were “somewhat girlfriend and boyfriend” and had had sex one time, according to the affidavit.