Police beat

Florida pair held in satellite scam

Little Rock police on Friday arrested a Florida couple accused of tricking elderly people out of thousands of dollars in payments for satellite service and repair.

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Anthony and Crystal Gerhold, 41 and 33, respectively, of Jacksonville, Fla., are being held in Pulaski County jail for Nassau County, Fla. Their affidavits of arrest say the two worked as a team, with Anthony Gerhold entering homes and posing as a representative for Dish Support Co. - which they said was a subcontractor of Dish Network Corp. - and Crystal Gerhold answering a fake toll-free number and posing as a customer service representative.

Victims in Nassau County have paid the Gerholds about $9,000 for prepaid satellite service and repair, according to the affidavits. The victims signed contracts that contained a Jacksonville business address and a toll-free contact number, but they never received any services. When they contacted Dish Network, they learned the contracts were fraudulent.

Crystal Gerhold registered the name “Dish Support Service” with the Florida secretary of state, and her name is on the contract for the post office box that is listed on the fraudulent contracts, according to her affidavit of arrest. Investigators suspect the Gerholds have used the same scheme in other counties. It’s unclear how the couple came into the custody of Little Rock police.

Police: Drunk man screamed threats

A Little Rock man was arrested Friday afternoon for pushing over a pedestrian, bicycles and newspaper boxes and screaming death threats at passers-by during a drunken walk on President Clinton Avenue, according to Little Rock police reports.

Several people called 911 about 3 p.m. to report Norance Reyerson, 50, who police said smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes. Reyerson was yelling at people that he was going to kill them and asked a police officer if he wanted to die, the report says.

He was charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and terroristic threatening. He remains at Pulaski County jail in lieu of $3,100 bond.

Police say man’s car pulled officer

Little Rock police arrested a man on his birthday Friday afternoon after he caught and dragged a police officer with the driver’s side door on his car.

Jason Smith, 28, of Little Rock, refused to turn off his car when officers stopped him at 8601 Colonel Glenn Road. When officers opened Smith’s door, he put the car in reverse, catching and dragging an officer along the road.

Smith was charged with aggravated assault, fleeing, driving on a suspended license and not having insurance. Smith also had a failure-to-appear warrant out for his arrest.

He remains in Pulaski County jail in lieu of $15,400 bond.

New counts added in boat-motor case

A Little Rock man already in jail for possessing stolen boat motors faces nine new felony charges after a Little Rock police investigation.

Casey Copeland, 31, was arrested in June after an investigation indicated he and his girlfriend, Colene Jones-Hubble, 33, had stolen boat motors and sold them on Craigslist and at pawn shops. Police found that Copeland and Hubble had a stolen U-Haul van, drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine at the time of arrest.

A Little Rock police detective obtained a search warrant for their cellphones, contacted victims who had their boat motors stolen and worked with Hubble to find evidence that Copeland had stolen nine additional boat motors.

Copeland remains in Pulaski County jail in lieu of $122,500 bond.

Daughter says dad stabbed her in arm

Deputies arrested a father Thursday morning after his daughter said he stabbed her in the arm.

Deputies with the Pulaski County sheriff’s office arrested Phillip Ford, 70, and charged him with second-degree domestic battery.

They first arrived at the man’s home at 16520 E. Mail Route Road in Little Rock about 11:15 a.m. Thursday in response to a domestic disturbance call. Ford’s injured daughter, Sheila Ford, had already been taken to a hospital when police arrived, according to a police report.

When questioned on what happened, Phillip Ford said that he spanked his granddaughter for “running amok” all day and then went into the kitchen to cut some lunch meat when his daughter confronted him about spanking her child, the report said.

Phillip Ford told police that Sheila Ford then “came at him punching” and hit the knife with her arm, police said.

But deputies heard a different story when they interviewed Sheila Ford at UAMS Medical Center. She told police she did confront her father about spanking her child and that’s when Phillip Ford came at her with the kitchen knife and stabbed her in the arm, according to the report.

While deputies were at the hospital, a doctor told Sheila Ford that the knife had severed a nerve in her arm and it would have to be surgically reattached. Police said two witnesses, a 20-year-old relative and the child, confirmed Sheila Ford’s account of the event.

When police went back to the home, they couldn’t find the knife among the dirty ones in the sink and then arrested Phillip Ford and took him to the Pulaski County jail, where he remained Saturday in lieu of $4,000 bond.

Arkansas, Pages 20 on 07/21/2013

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