Malvern man sentenced for robbery, battery

Boyce
Boyce

A Malvern man arrested last year after assaulting a woman at a Hot Springs gas station and stealing her purse pleaded guilty to felony charges Monday and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Isaiah Keyun Boyce, 19, who has remained in custody since his arrest Nov. 15, 2016, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to robbery and was sentenced to 10 years, and second-degree battery and was sentenced to three years, with the sentences to run concurrently.

His alleged accomplice, Javonte Jone Jones, 24, also of Malvern, who was arrested the same day on the same charges, is set to stand trial Jan. 22. He remains in custody in lieu of $25,000 bond.

According to the affidavit, on Nov. 16, around 5:30 p.m., Garland County sheriff's Deputy Andrew Goodman responded to the Corner Store, 4198 Malvern Ave., and made contact with a woman, 48, who was sitting on the ground next to her vehicle near the carwash. She had blood coming from her nose and bruising and swelling around her left eye.

She said she had been sitting in her vehicle at the station and had opened her driver's side door when a black male allegedly started screaming at her and punching her in the face. He then grabbed her purse and fled the scene. She said her purse contained a pair of reading glasses and a checkbook.

A dispatcher told Goodman a witness was following the vehicle the suspect fled in, a dark blue Ford pickup, in the 900 block of Akers Road approaching Malvern Avenue. Goodman responded to the area and pulled behind the truck and activated his lights to make a traffic stop.

The truck continued to travel to the intersection of Malvern Avenue and Akers Road, where it turned into a vacant lot. The driver, identified as Jones, was taken into custody for fleeing.

During an inventory of the truck, deputies located a black wallet with Boyce's ID and $29 and another wallet with a third suspect's ID and $80. Arkansas State Police Trooper Kyle Sheldon and Lt. Scotty Dodd had located brought Boyce and brought him to the location and Jones identified him as one of the two men who had been with him earlier.

Sheriff's investigators indicated all three suspects were believed to be involved in the robbery and they were still looking for the third suspect.

Local on 12/05/2017

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