LITTLE ROCK — A year after two robbers left him half-naked on a snowy Little Rock street, James Harris still doesn’t know why he launched a pants-less pursuit of the two thieves who took his wallet along with his trousers.
Harris’ efforts led to the arrest of two teenage suspects, and on Monday his testimony helped convict the 17-year-old Sherwood youth that prosecutors said instigated the holdup, Aaron Walter Bass. A seven-woman, five-man jury convicted Bass of aggravated robbery, theft and aggravated assault after a day-long trial. Bass was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He’ll have to serve about 15/2 years before he’s eligible for parole.
The 46-year-old Veterans Affairs drug therapist was robbed on an icy January 2011 day. He had pulled his car over near Marshall and 24th streets to decide the best way to navigate the slick streets to get to work on Roosevelt Road when he was accosted by two men, one of them brandishing a pistol, who demanded his cash.
On the witness stand, Harris testified that the second man, now 20-year-old Richard Delmont Green Jr. of Little Rock, pulled Harris’ pants off, apparently impatient when Harris couldn’t surrender his wallet quickly enough. Bass, Harris told the jurors, kept the gun unflinchingly trained on him, firing twice at Harris when he jumped for safety behind his car. When Bass fled, Harris testified, he got in his car and trailed the robbers.
“I don’t know why I did this. To this day, I can’t explain it,” Harris said.
Harris led police to the apartment of Catassia Campbell at 1521 W. 24th St., where officers found the suspects hiding in closets, with Harris’ beige pants in the washing machine. Deputy prosecutor Jennifer Waymack urged jurors not to be swayed by Bass’ youth in assessing a sentencing recommendation for Circuit Judge Chris Piazza.
“This is not kids’ stuff,” she said. “He has made his choices.” Bass did not testify.
Defense attorney Lott Rolfe disputed Harris’ credibility, suggesting Harris had been up to something nefarious in the neighborhood. Harris couldn’t even give police a straight answer about where he lived, let alone accurately describe the men who’d supposedly robbed him, Rolfe said.
Green pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in April and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, giving him a potential parole date in June 2019.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 01/10/2012