The last of three Malvern men arrested in connection with the assault and robbery of a woman at a Hot Springs gas station in November 2016 pleaded guilty Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Malik Javon Amari Smith, 21, pleaded guilty to a felony count of robbery and was sentenced to eight years in prison while a felony charge of second-degree battery was withdrawn. A permanent order barring Smith from any contact with the victim was also issued and he was ordered to pay $170 in court costs.
Smith was arrested May 5, 2017, in connection with the Nov. 16, 2016, incident and released four days later on $6,000 bond. He is reportedly classified as a habitual offender, having been convicted July 25, 2017, in Hot Spring County of felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, residential burglary and theft of property more than $1,000.
One accomplice, Javonte Jones, 24, pleaded guilty to robbery on Feb. 13, 2018, and was also sentenced to eight years in prison while an additional count of second-degree battery was withdrawn. A second accomplice, Isaiah Keyun Boyce, 19, had pleaded guilty Dec. 4, 2017, to robbery and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and second-degree battery and was sentenced to three years, with the sentences to run concurrently.
According to the affidavit, on Nov. 16, 2016, 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 car wash. 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 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. Goodman responded to the area, pulled behind the truck and activated his lights to make a traffic stop. The truck continued on Akers to its intersection with Malvern 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 Smith's ID and $80. Arkansas State police had located 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 a warrant was later issued for Smith.
Local on 03/15/2018