A local teenager who attacked and robbed a woman twice in one month last year and later attacked a deputy at the Garland County Detention Center was sentenced to prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to felony charges.
Rongerald Daytoine Witherspoon, 19, who has remained in custody on zero bond since his arrest Aug. 23, 2017, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to two counts of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison on each count, and to second-degree battery and was sentenced to six years, with all sentences to run concurrently.
Additional felony charges of second-degree battery and theft of property related to the two robberies were withdrawn.
According to the probable cause affidavits on the aggravated robbery charges, on July 6, 2017, a local woman reported that a black male pulled a gun on her and struck her on the head with his fist during a robbery attempt.
She said she was looking inside the back seat of her car in the 800 block of Park Avenue when the male displayed a firearm and stated, "I know you have $150." She said she responded "Are you trying to rob me?", prompting the male to strike her on the head.
She said she grabbed a pipe from her back seat to defend herself and the male fled the area without getting any money.
A juvenile bystander who reportedly observed the incident gave Hot Springs police a description of the suspect and claimed he recognized him, providing officers with a name and corroborating the victim's version of events.
On July 15, the same woman reported a second incident at her home where she was accosted, and her car was stolen by two young men. She told police she was asleep at her Park Avenue residence around 2 a.m. when her dogs began barking, causing her to wake up.
She said she sat up in bed and saw two men bent down on the stairwell outside. She demanded that they leave, but instead they rushed her, put a blanket over her head and hit her in the head numerous times.
She said she was able to break free and run outside, while the suspects stole her purse, a cellphone and her car keys.
A neighbor told police she came out of her apartment and saw two males standing next to the victim's vehicle trying to get in and recognized one of them.
The two suspects reportedly returned to the victim's apartment and the older one began to punch her in the face multiple times, before running back to her vehicle, a 2005 Monte Carlo, and driving away.
The victim recognized one suspect as the same juvenile who had reported witnessing the attempted robbery on July 6, but she did not know the other suspect, later identified as Witherspoon. She told officers the unknown suspect was the same man that had pulled a gun on her on July 6.
Later that same day, the juvenile and Witherspoon were stopped by authorities in Center, Texas, driving the victim's car.
On July 20, the victim identified Witherspoon from a photo lineup as the man who entered her residence without permission and burglarized her, and as the man who attempted to rob her on July 6. She was also able to identify the juvenile.
The Sentinel-Record follows The Associated Press privacy policies and does not publish the names of juvenile offenders unless they are charged as adults.
The woman suffered a broken nose, a head injury, bruising to her face and an undiagnosed medical issue with her right ear reportedly sustained during the attack at her apartment.
Witherspoon was brought back to Hot Springs and formally charged with both counts of aggravated robbery on Aug. 23, 2017, and was being held on zero bond.
According to the probable cause affidavit for the second-degree battery, on Oct. 30, 2017, shortly after 2:30 p.m., Garland County sheriff's Deputy Danny King was working at the detention center in housing unit C and told Witherspoon his recreational time was complete.
Upon hearing this, Witherspoon stood up from his chair in the dayroom, walked up to King and punched him in the face. Witherspoon was quickly secured by other deputies and escorted back to his cell and locked down.
Medical staff at the detention center evaluated King and he was taken to the emergency room at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs for an abrasion to his chin, bleeding inside his mouth and an injury to his cheek.
Witherspoon was charged with battery in connection with the incident on Nov. 8, 2017.
Local on 09/13/2018