A Hot Springs parolee was arrested Thursday on a felony warrant for illegally obtaining a refund for over $1,200 worth of property he allegedly stole from a local home improvement store in July.
Nicholas David Mann, 38, who lists a Trap Mountain Road address, was taken into custody shortly before 3:30 p.m. on the warrant for theft of property over $1,000, punishable by up to six years in prison, while appearing at Garland County District Court on an unrelated matter.
Mann was later released on $2,500 bond and is set to appear on Oct. 27 in district court. According to court records, he was convicted on Jan. 30, 2017, of possession of a controlled substance, meth, and sentenced to four years in prison, but was later paroled. He was convicted again on Sept. 23, 2019, of possession of drug paraphernalia and sentenced to four years in prison, but was later paroled, all in Garland County.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on July 20, Hot Springs police responded to Lowe's, 300 Cornerstone Blvd., regarding a theft and spoke to an employee who stated she was notified of a fraudulent return that had occurred on July 18.
She stated a white male wearing a black shirt, black shorts and a black ball cap, who was later identified as Mann, entered the store at around 3:44 p.m. without any merchandise. A few minutes later, Mann exited the building materials department with a cart containing three 4.75-gallon containers of white silicone reflective roof coating, which retailed for $379 a container.
He then approached the customer service desk and completed a non-receipted return for the three containers he had just taken from the sales floor. During the transaction, Mann used his Arkansas driver's license in his name at his listed address on Trap Mountain Road.
The employee noted Mann received a gift card for $1,245.02 from the transaction and left the store. The affidavit notes the suspect seen in the store's security camera footage was positively identified as Mann. A warrant for his arrest was issued on July 26.