A Hot Springs man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges stemming from the theft of a pair of pants earlier this year and attacks on deputies while in jail.
De'Ashawn Antonio Halterman, 21, who has remained in custody since his arrest Jan. 13, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to robbery and was sentenced to 12 years, and four counts of second-degree battery and was sentenced to six years on each count, all to run concurrently.
Additional charges of theft of property and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief were withdrawn and a charge of failure to appear was adjudicated by time served since his initial arrest. He was also ordered to pay $420 in court costs.
According to the affidavit, on Jan. 13, around 2 p.m., the manager of Dillard's, 4501 Central Ave., told Hot Springs police one of his employees had notified him a customer had stolen a pair of pants valued at $104. The employee pointed to a man, later identified as Halterman, who was walking across the parking lot. The manager then got in his car, caught up with the man and told him to give the jeans back.
Halterman fled and the manager chased him to another parking lot in the 4500 block and got out of his vehicle to confront him. Halterman approached the manager, swung his fist at him and then continued to flee.
Another store employee met up with the manager and they continued their pursuit in the manager's vehicle. The two chased him to Ridgewood Apartments, 2190 Higdon Ferry Road, and exited the vehicle to confront him again.
Halterman swung his fist at the employee and then broke a glass bottle in the parking lot on a curb and began swinging it at the employee before running farther into the apartment complex. At one point during the pursuit, Halterman removed the stolen pair of pants he was wearing, put them on the ground and continued to flee.
Police later located Halterman on Brighton Terrace and took him into custody without further incident. He was being held in lieu of $6,000 bond at the Garland County Detention Center.
On Jan. 26, around 11:45 a.m., Garland County sheriff's Deputies Cody Martin and Gary Bailey were speaking with Halterman at the detention center when he lunged at Martin, punching him several times in the face. When Bailey attempted to assist Martin, he was also struck multiple times in the face.
Martin deployed pepper spray "which only seemed to agitate Halterman further," the affidavit states. Halterman punched Martin in the face again, but the deputy was finally able to take him to the ground and handcuff him.
Bailey was bleeding profusely from his nose and had a laceration on his cheek and swelling. Martin had swelling to his right cheek and scalp area. Halterman also broke the security camera in the housing unit, valued at $1,747, and later caused damage to a sink and door window in his cell.
On May 9, around 2:15 p.m., Halterman got into another altercation with deputies at the detention center when he refused to return a set of electric hair clippers. Deputy Nathan Burgett forced the clippers from his hand and exited the cell. Halterman acted like he was going to pursue Burgett, so other deputies handcuffed him behind his back.
When the deputies tried to remove the handcuffs through the food pass after the cell was secured, Halterman refused to cooperate, sat on his bed and moved the cuffs to the front by passing them under his legs.
He picked up an object and threatened the deputies and refused to drop the object when ordered. The door was opened and Cpl. Robert Kellogg deployed pepper spray to Halterman's head and face while ordering him to the floor. Halterman sat on his bunk as if to comply, but refused to get on his stomach.
Kellogg grabbed Halterman's arm to move him to the floor and Halterman punched him four times in the right eye, causing bruising. He also bit Kellogg's left arm, breaking the skin and causing bleeding and bruising.
Halterman was set to stand trial this week on the robbery charge with trials set for Aug. 31 and Sept. 12 on the battery charges.
Local on 07/20/2017