A Hot Springs man who allegedly stole a car that a local woman left warming up in her driveway was arrested Monday morning after a brief manhunt by Hot Springs police.
James Edward Grundon, 43, who lists a Central Avenue address, was taken into custody shortly before 8:30 a.m. Monday and charged with theft by receiving over $1,000, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison.
Grundon, who is on parole, remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $2,500 bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, at around 6:15 a.m. Monday a woman reported the theft of her 2004 Ford Explorer, valued at $4,500, from her residence on West Belding Street. She said she had started her vehicle to warm it up and left it with the keys in the ignition outside her home while she ran inside to retrieve some items.
She returned a few moments later and discovered her vehicle was gone. She said she began driving around in another vehicle looking for her Explorer and shortly before 8 a.m. she spotted it in the 1300 block of Malvern Avenue being driven by an unknown man.
She followed the vehicle to the end of Halton Terrace where she saw the man exit the vehicle and run east behind a nearby residence.
Hot Springs police Cpl. Brandon Jones and his K-9 partner, Keena, and Cpl. Mike Hall responded to the scene and began tracking the suspect, identified as Grundon, who was located in a wooded area in the 200 block of Ash Street and detained.
The victim was driven by the scene and reportedly identified Grundon as the man she had seen driving her vehicle who then fled. A secondary K-9 track was conducted to locate items missing from the vehicle and a plastic bag was located that contained several items the victim identified as belonging to her.
Langston Magnet School, located nearby at 120 Chestnut St., was briefly locked down during the search for the suspect.
Local on 03/28/2018