LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock teenager charged in three grab-and-run thefts of items listed on Craigslist is a suspect in six other similar cases in the city, police said Wednesday.
James Hinton III, 18, of 15 Pinnacle Valley Road, Apartment 20, was arrested Sept. 24 and charged with three counts of felony theft of property, arrest reports state.
Police said Hinton arranged meetings with three men on separate occasions to purchase items they had listed on Craigslist.
In the first case on Aug. 18, Hinton met with a man at 10320 Stagecoach Road to discuss a laptop that had been listed on the website, an affidavit states.
Hinton was looking at the computer, valued at $1,200, when he took off with it and outran the seller, according to reports.
The man contacted police and identified Hinton from a photo lineup in September, the affidavit states.
In similar cases on Aug. 20 and Aug. 28, Hinton met with men selling diamond rings and fled with the items in both cases, police said.
The rings had a combined value of $12,000, according to reports.
The men in both cases identified Hinton in photo lineups and warrants were issued for his arrest.
On Wednesday, police said Hinton is also considered a suspect in six other similar cases, dating between Sept. 6 and Oct. 10, police spokesman Sgt. Cassandra Davis said.
In those cases, cell phones, tablet computers and rings were stolen, police said.
Hinton had not been formally charged in those cases Wednesday afternoon, Davis said.
Hinton was arrested Sept. 12 in an unrelated robbery on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus.
Police said Hinton and another man knocked down a UALR student outside the Trojan Grill and one of the men displayed a handgun. The men took the student’s laptop and fled the area, according to reports.
Hinton was taken into custody a short time later and charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, theft of property, obstructing governmental operation, defacing a firearm and possession of a handgun on school property.
He was released from the Pulaski County jail on Sept. 17.
Hinton was no longer being held at the jail Wednesday after his Sept. 24 arrest. Jail records show Hinton was released the same day, but the details of his release were not immediately available.
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 10/18/2012