LITTLE ROCK — A guard at Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s John W. Turk Jr. power plant in Hempstead County told authorities she was kidnapped and cut one of her abductors with a knife before making her escape.
She later admitted she made up the story and instead helped a man steal a generator, officials said.
Tonya Hicks, 41, of Emmet was arrested Tuesday by Hempstead County deputies and charged with filing a false police report and theft of property.
Hicks was being held Thursday in the Hempstead County jail.
About 6 a.m. Monday, the Hempstead County sheriff’s office was notified about a kidnapping at the plant. The caller is a supervisor for the company that provides security for the plant, which is under construction.
The supervisor reported that a guard called her about 5:21 a.m. and said Hicks was missing from her post. The last time anyone heard from Hicks was at 3:42 a.m., Sheriff James Singleton said.
The supervisor said she tried calling Hicks several times but was unable to make contact. About 5:49 a.m., Hicks, who was in a guard shack at the plant, answered her phone.
While Deputy Charlie Featherson was en route to the plant, he was notified that Hicks had been located.
After arriving at the plant, Featherson met with Hicks. She claimed that when she pulled up to the Railsburg gate in her all-terrain vehicle, a man jumped into the passenger side of the vehicle and threw an air tank in the back. The man was described as black and wearing a gray shirt and bluejeans.
Hicks said the man told her to drive toward Arkansas 195 south. Hicks told Featherson that as they drove through the gate, another man ran up, pushed her toward the middle of the vehicle and jumped into the driver’s seat. The second man was described only as black.
Hicks said that shortly after driving under the Arkansas 195 bridge, the vehicle hit a stump and rolled onto its side. She said the man on the passenger side got out of the vehicle and ran to the other side. Hicks said she pulled out her pocket knife, cut the driver in the lower part of his body and threw the knife in the woods.
She got out of the vehicle and started walking, ending up in the 1300 block of Arkansas 195 south, Hicks said.
“After being interviewed, Hicks confessed she made up the story about being kidnapped and cutting someone, but did assist a [man] to carry out a generator from one of the construction companies in the back of the security company’s Kubota RTV to the back gate so it could be picked up later,” Singleton said. “Investigators recovered both the Kubota and the generator during the investigation.”
Investigators expect to obtain a warrant for the man who took the generator from the construction site.
Arkansas, Pages 16 on 07/27/2012