Local man sentenced to eight years in prison for crime spree

Nesmith
Nesmith

A reportedly homeless man arrested after a crime spree of thefts and forgeries earlier this year was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to multiple charges in Garland County Circuit Court.

David Ray Nesmith, 23, who has remained in custody since his arrest on Feb. 2, pleaded guilty to theft of property more than $1,000 and three counts of second-degree forgery and was sentenced to eight years on each count to run concurrently with each other and with the revocation of his probation from two felony convictions in 2016.

According to the probable cause affidavits for the four incidents, the owner of Rapid Restoration LLC reported the theft of a check from his business that was later forged and cashed. The check for $1,697.55 was mailed to another business and the letter was stolen before arriving at its destination and cashed at Arvest Bank, 1500 Albert Pike, on Dec. 18, 2017.

On March 6, 2018, Hot Springs police Detective Nathan Rines obtained video from the transaction at the bank and identified the person cashing the check as Nesmith based on prior dealings with him.

On Dec. 28, 2017, an employee of Relyance Bank, 4446 Central Ave., reported that a white male attempted to cash a $1,160 check on the account of Madison Custom Homes which had been closed for some time. The employee denied the transaction and the suspect left but the employee noted the check had been endorsed to David Nesmith.

On Jan. 11, 2018, an employee of Regions Bank, 4441 Central Ave., reported an attempted forgery that had occurred on Jan. 5. The employee stated a man who identified himself as David Ray Nesmith entered the bank to retrieve his debit card for his newly created Regions account.

After he left the lobby, Nesmith got in a car and pulled into the drive-through where he attempted to cash an Arvest Bank check written to a woman for $1,600. The employee discovered the account was closed and when she told Nesmith he drove away but left his Arkansas ID card behind.

Detective Jarret Cantrell reviewed the surveillance footage of the transaction and confirmed it was Nesmith.

On Jan. 29, a local man reported the theft of his black 2018 Honda Ruckus scooter, valued at $2,500, from outside his residence on Charteroak Street.

On Feb. 2, shortly before 8:30 a.m., Nesmith was stopped at the intersection of Mann and Orchard streets while riding the stolen scooter. He later admitted he had stolen the scooter from Charteroak by "hot-wiring" it and had been in possession of it since Jan. 29.

Local on 06/13/2018

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