Police believe six armed robberies Tuesday night that occurred within a two-hour span in a southwest Little Rock neighborhood are connected.
The holdups came one day after police arrested a man they now suspect was part of a robbery crew operating in the area, police spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen said. Investigators were working to identify associates of Robert Earl Corney, 20, to develop suspects in the cases.
Allen said there would be increased patrols in the neighborhood.
"Some of our more mobile units will be in that area [Wednesday night] looking for suspect vehicles and suspects. We're not going to blankly make traffic stops or do stop-and-frisk. But hopefully with that increased presence, if something were to happen there would be a more rapid response," he said.
In each case, three to four robbers described as black approached residents outside their homes and took items at gunpoint. The holdups occurred in a 2-square-mile area where officers cruised the streets in search of the robbers Tuesday night.
They arrested one person but ended up charging the man with unrelated offenses.
Police first responded to the neighborhood at 7:30 p.m. Oscar Agui, 26, told officers he had parked outside his home at 5008 Opal St. when a green two-door car suddenly pulled up behind him, according to a police report. A man with a silver handgun approached Agui and stole his keys, wallet and cellphone. The robber got into the green vehicle, where two others were waiting, and fled.
Officers searched the area but made no arrests.
Police returned to the neighborhood at 8:17 p.m. after another armed holdup was reported across Baseline Road at 16 Barwood Circle, about a mile south of Agui's residence. Barnardino Vasquez-Morales, 30, told officers that four robbers had followed him home and taken his wallet, cellphone and keys at gunpoint. He said the robbers fled in a black vehicle of unknown make and model, according to a police report.
Police broadcast the robbery to all officers and told Vasquez-Morales "to be careful and aware of his surroundings," the report states.
As officers spoke to Vasquez-Morales, another man was being held up across Baseline Road at 8724 Stanton Road.
It was 8:19 p.m. when Gerardo Belmonte-Esalera, 31, called police. He told officers he had gone outside to grab some tools from his truck when four men walked up and began reaching into his pockets. When he fought back, one of the robbers pointed a silver handgun at him and said, "Give me your wallet," a police report states.
The robbers fled with $800 cash and Belmonte-Esalera's bank card. He saw them driving away in a light-colored, four-door vehicle.
Belmonte-Esalera said by phone Wednesday that he had been helping his brother remodel his home when the robbery occurred. There were two young children inside the house.
"We were worried about the kids," he said. "I hope they catch them. We can look after ourselves, but the kids couldn't do anything if there was a burglary or someone broke into the house or something."
The next call from the area came at 8:40 p.m.
Benjamin Davis, 38, told officers he was outside his girlfriend's trailer at 7111 Baseline Road when two men approached him from behind. One of them had a black handgun. The robbers took Davis' wallet and a six-pack of beer before fleeing on foot with a third person who had been waiting nearby, according to police.
Davis' girlfriend, Lucy Morales, said the robbers struck Davis in the face and ran away when she began screaming. She said she has lived in the neighborhood for about a year without incident and that the robbery left her frightened.
"I don't know what to do, really. Just the thought that it's getting late and it's going to be night soon," she said Wednesday afternoon.
At 8:53 p.m., police were called to 7 Regina Circle after two men were robbed at gunpoint as they walked home from a nearby convenience store. Francisco Hernandez and Francisco Lopez said three men in a black Mazda followed them from the store and took their wallets and an iPhone, police reported.
Police received another call at 9:11 p.m., this time from a man at 7100 Dahlia Drive. Louis Mardonado, 22, had returned home from a restaurant and was confronted by three robbers as he walked to his front door. One of them had a gun and took his wallet. The robbers fled south toward Baseline Road.
Officers on Baseline Road soon pulled over a black Cadillac DeVille occupied by three men. They arrested the driver, Brandon Turner, 21, after reportedly finding marijuana in the vehicle. Turner also was charged with disorderly conduct and attempting to influence a public servant.
No charges were filed against the passengers.
Although the victims provided different descriptions of the vehicles used in the robberies, Allen said the "rapid succession" of the robberies and similar descriptions of the robbers led investigators to believe the holdups were related.
He said police thought robberies in the area would decrease after Corney was arrested Monday. Corney is accused of following two men to a home at 9500 S. Heights Road and -- along with two unidentified accomplices -- robbing them at gunpoint.
That such robberies continued -- and increased -- after Corney's arrest is another indicator of an organized effort, Allen said.
"Typically, if those guys are running in bunches, they just continue on or find someone to replace that person," he said.
Allen said some robbers plan the location of the crime while others choose victims out of convenience.
Corney of 4117 West Drive lived blocks away from where two people were robbed last week. It was the third time in the past 15 months he was charged in robberies that occurred within a mile of his home. He pleaded no contest in one of those incidents Monday morning and was sentenced to five years in prison. Later that day, Little Rock police charged him in last week's robbery.
Metro on 01/29/2015