A convicted sex offender was arrested Thursday on multiple felony charges including failure to register and drug possession after Hot Springs police learned he had been frequenting the Garland County Library almost daily for months.
Troy Don Baumgardner, 29, alias Troy Ramirez, who is reportedly homeless, was taken into custody at the library, located at 1427 Malvern Ave., around 7:30 p.m. and charged with failure to comply with sex offender registration and reporting requirements, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, possession of a controlled substance, meth, and possession of drug paraphernalia, each punishable by up to six years.
He was being held on bonds totaling $8,500 and appeared Friday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 7:30 p.m., Detective Jarret Cantrell received an anonymous tip via the Crime Solvers Tip Form that a noncompliant sex offender from Missouri had been frequenting the library. The tipster included a link to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Sex Offender registry that listed Baumgardner.
Cantrell contacted a library employee and asked if Baumgardner had been visiting the library. The employee confirmed he had and that he was there at that time. Patrol officers and Cantrell responded to the library and located Baumgardner inside. After confirming his identity, he was escorted out and taken into custody.
The library employee told Cantrell that Baumgardner had been coming into the library almost every weekday since December.
After being read his rights and questioned, Baumgardner allegedly stated he had been living in Hot Springs for about four months and he had not registered here as a sex offender "because it's a matter of national security." He also noted he had recently been living "under a bridge" near the library.
During a search of Baumgardner's property, officers reportedly located two used syringes and 0.7 gram of what later tested positive for meth.
Local on 06/02/2018