A convicted felon who attacked his parole officer and tried to escape from custody last year was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to charges in Garland County Circuit Court.
David Dale Laster, 21, who has remained in custody since his arrest July 12, 2017, pleaded guilty to second-degree escape and was sentenced to 10 years, and to second-degree battery, and was sentenced to six years, with the sentences to run concurrently with each other and the revocation of his parole from previous charges.
Additional misdemeanor charges of first-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest were withdrawn by prosecutors.
According to the affidavit, on July 12, Laster had reported to the parole office at 615 E. Grand Ave. and met with his parole officer, ACC Agent John Weaver. He was taken into custody on a parole violation, handcuffed and directed to sit down to await transport to the detention center.
Laster jumped out of the chair and ran down the hallway. Weaver chased after him, ordering him to stop, but he continued to run and broke through a back door of the office. He continued to run until he collided with a door he was unable to break, although he damaged the door.
At that point, Laster turned and charged at Weaver. who noted he had removed one of his handcuffs with the other dangling from his left wrist. Weaver administered a burst of pepper spray toward Laster, who attempted to push Weaver to the floor, knocking his glasses off and scratching his face.
Weaver grabbed the handcuffs and a struggle ensued as Laster continued to fight, swinging his fist toward Weaver. Laster pushed toward the front entry of the building, down the main hallway outside the parole office. Both men fell to the floor as Laster continued to fight.
Weaver finally backed Laster into the wall and was able to get hold of the handcuff and "administered a strike" to Laster's face. Laster stumbled and Weaver pulled his weapon at that point and ordered Laster to lie face down on the floor, and he complied.
Other parole and probation officers arrived and assisted in getting Laster handcuffed again and under control. At one point, Laster told Weaver, "I will get out shortly and will come and find you," in a threatening manner.
Laster continued to make threats as Hot Springs police escorted him to a waiting unit and took him to jail.
The Arkansas Community Correction special response team was called in the next day to transport Laster to prison "due to the seriousness of the event." It was noted this was the second time Laster has fought with officers.
Laster, a convicted sex offender, had pleaded no contest on Jan. 29, 2016, to a felony charge of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements and was sentenced to three years' probation. On June 21, 2016, he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by certain persons and was sentenced to four years in prison and was on parole from that offense at the time of his arrest last year.
Local on 01/31/2018