A parole absconder was arrested on felony charges Wednesday after allegedly pulling a knife and threatening an employee at a local hotel after breaking a window there.
Frank Alexander Hoffner West, 28, who lists a Peachtree Street address, was taken into custody around 1 p.m. and charged with felony counts of aggravated assault and first-degree terroristic threatening, each punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of first-degree criminal mischief, punishable by up to one year in jail, for the window.
West, who also had a warrant for violating his parole, was being held on a zero bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, Hot Springs police Officer Aaron Combs responded to the Best Western Winners Circle Hotel, 2520 Central Ave., regarding an assault that had just occurred and spoke to the male victim who stated a former employee, identified as West, was at the hotel and damaged a window.
The man said he went out to speak to West about the window, which sustained an estimated $700 in damage, and they got into an argument. At one point, West allegedly pulled out a box cutter style knife and threatened to kill the victim with it.
The victim noted West was "slashing the box cutter at him in an aggressive manner." He said he backed away from West "fearing for his life" and did not pursue the matter of the window further.
Officers spoke to a female witness, who stated she was in the building doing online training when she heard West outside the window speaking to someone. She said she then saw West break the window.
When she confronted West about the broken window, she said he told her he would pay for it and started to leave.
The victim and witness provided a description of West and officers reportedly located him a few blocks away at the corner of Bell and Alpine streets. They noted he had removed his shirt, but he was identified by employees as West.
A computer check showed he had a parole absconder warrant so he was taken into custody. When questioned later after being read his rights, West allegedly admitted to breaking the window but claimed it was unintentional.
He stated he was confronted by the other employee and allegedly admitted he did tell him he would harm him "if he continued to talk to him about the window."
According to court records, West was previously convicted in 2018 of two counts of forgery and two counts of theft of property and sentenced to five years in prison, but later paroled. On Dec. 6, 2021, he was convicted of three counts of criminal mischief after damaging windows at three businesses in the Highway 7 north area near Hot Springs Village and was sentenced to six years in prison, with all of it suspended.