LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock man arrested Tuesday in a July 10 kidnapping and robbery faces additional charges in another robbery earlier this month, police said Wednesday.
Sylvester Hatley, 39, of 7624 W. 38th St., was linked by fingerprints to a July 6 robbery where a man held three men at gunpoint, bound them with tape and demanded money, laptop computers and credit cards, Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings wrote in a news release.
At 2:14 a.m. that day, police were called to The Berkley Apartments at 1601 N. Shackleford Road, Apartment 195, after a 911 caller said he had escaped from the robber but that his two friends were still taped up inside, the release said. When officers arrived, they found the men inside and freed them.
One of the men told police that about 1:50 a.m. the robber, later identified as Hatley, pulled a gun on him while he was waiting for his friend in a vehicle outside the apartment, the release said.
The robber then got into the back seat of the vehicle and waited until the man’s friend returned, the release said. He then forced both men out of the car and into the apartment where another resident was inside, the release said.
After taking their cell phones, the robber bound the three men with tape from a flattened roll he took from hispocket and began to search the apartment for valuables, the release said.
A short time later, one of the men told the robber he could call his uncle and have him bring money to the apartment, the release said. The robber agreed.
When the uncle arrived in a car, the robber unbound the man and told him to “get the money and not try anything funny,” the release said. The robber then watched from a breezeway outside the apartment while the man walked to his uncle’s car, the release said.
But instead of returning with the cash, the man jumped in the car, which sped off, the release said. The robber then fled and police were called.
Later, arrest warrants were filed for Hatley, and on Tuesday, officers arrested him after he tried to pass himself off asanother man who had an outstanding warrant, police said. Officers discovered his identity when his fingerprints were run through the Arkansas Crime Information Center database, police said.
Hatley was also charged in a July 10 robbery where two men held another two at gunpoint and forced one of them to remove money from “several” automated teller machines around the city. Police have not identified the other suspect in that robbery.
In total, Hatley faces five counts of aggravated robbery, kidnapping and theft of property, the release said. He also was charged with two counts of aggravated residential burglary, the release said.
He was being held Wednesday at the Pulaski County jail in lieu of $250,000 bond, jail records show.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 07/29/2010