A local felon on probation who was arrested last year after he was caught in Hot Springs Village with a stolen gun was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to felony charges in Garland County Circuit Court.
Daniel Richard Fuchs, 21, who has remained in custody since his arrest on Aug. 16, 2020, pleaded guilty to theft by receiving of a firearm and possession of a firearm by certain persons and was sentenced to the maximum of six years on each count, to run concurrently, fined $500 and ordered to pay $190 in court costs.
Fuchs also pleaded guilty Wednesday to two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver, involving Xanax and Ecstasy, stemming from an earlier arrest on April 17, 2020, following a traffic stop on Albert Pike by Arkansas State Police. Fuchs was sentenced to six years in prison on each count, to also run concurrently with his other sentences, and fined $500 and ordered to pay $315 in court costs.
According to the charges involving the firearm, on July 29, 2020, around 3:30 a.m., Hot Springs Village police responded to a disturbance in the middle of Excelso Way where a gunshot was heard.
Officer Hunter Grubbs arrived and located Fuchs and another male and two females at the scene. Fuchs and the male began "running around" when they saw him, throwing items into a nearby car. Then Fuchs, ignoring commands from Grubbs, fled into the woods where Grubbs saw him throw a dark-colored object as he ran.
Grubbs was able to retrieve the object which was found to be a Glock 10-mm handgun with Fuchs' cellphone next to it.
The two females stated they were driving around Hot Springs Village for several hours and Fuchs would tell them where to go. They said Fuchs and the other male would go to random houses and "bring back unknown items."
They noted Fuchs and the other male had two handguns with them and Fuchs told them the guns were "hot" and had been taken from a hotel and a vehicle. He tried to sell the guns to them, but they refused.
Officers located Fuchs around 10:45 a.m. at DeSoto Beach, several miles away, and noted he was only wearing shorts and had scratches all over his body. He immediately told officers he "wanted to invoke his 5th Amendment rights" and not talk to them. Grubbs later confirmed Fuchs was the same male he had encountered who fled from him.
A computer check later showed Fuchs was convicted of felony theft by receiving on Aug. 17, 2018, and sentenced to five years' supervised probation.
In searching the car Fuchs and the others were in, officers found a wallet belonging to a pastor from the Village who later discovered his car had been broken into that night. Other items were found traced back to other vehicles broken into that night. Officers also found a second handgun.
The gun Fuchs had thrown to the ground was found to have been stolen on Lakeland Drive the night before. The other gun was found to have been stolen from a vehicle at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hot Springs. The affidavit notes the residence on Lakeland and the DoubleTree "are in the same vicinity."