A Hot Springs man was arrested on a felony warrant Tuesday stemming from allegations he gave a woman a ride earlier this month and then strangled her with speaker wire.
Joseph Allen Byers, 41, of 274 Raithwood Road, was taken into custody at his residence shortly after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault, punishable by up to six years in prison. He was being held on $20,000 bond and appeared Wednesday in Garland County Circuit Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on May 3, a woman who alleged to have been attacked was located by Garland County sheriff's deputies and LifeNet personnel in the 3200 block of East Grand Avenue near Bartee Trail and transported to National Park Medical Center for treatment of injuries she received.
When questioned later by investigators, the woman said that, on the afternoon of May 1, she was at a residence on Ross Street when she got into a vehicle with a white male known to her as Jody, who gave her a ride to get cigarettes.
She said he then drove her to an unknown wooded area. When she refused to have sex with him, she alleges he choked her with red speaker wire, causing her to lose consciousness several times.
She said she was finally able to escape and hid in the woods until the man left. The affidavit notes the woman's injuries were consistent with someone being strangled with a thin wire.
After further investigation, Byers, who was then reportedly living at the residence on Ross Street, was developed as a possible suspect in the assault. A photo lineup of six possible suspects, including Byers, was shown to the victim and she reportedly identified Byers as the one who had taken her to the woods and attacked her.
A warrant for Byers' arrest was issued on May 16.
Local on 05/31/2018