Police look for two in LR bank robbery
Little Rock police are searching for two men in connection with a Wednesday afternoon bank robbery in the Hillcrest neighborhood.
Police were called to the Bank of America at 4024 W. Markham St. about 1:30 p.m. after a man stole an undisclosed amount of cash, according to a news release from Little Rock police. The man got into the passenger seat of a silver Toyota Corolla that was last seen traveling west on West Markham Street.
The suspect is a slender black man, according to police.
Police also are searching for the man who drove the Toyota.
Package with fuse removed in NLR
Authorities were investigating after a suspicious package was reported Wednesday afternoon outside the Camp Joseph T. Robinson military base in North Little Rock.
North Little Rock and Sherwood police responded shortly after 10 a.m. to the 8200 block of Remount Road, just east of the base. Officers cordoned off the road between New York Avenue and Mission Road while securing an oval-shaped container wrapped in white tape, according to North Little Rock police spokesman Sgt. Brian Dedrick.
The package also had what appeared to be a fuse, Dedrick said.
Agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined the container had "components of an explosive device," Dedrick said. The agency removed the device and reopened traffic in the area about noon.
The origin of the package was unknown, but Dedrick said it appeared similar to a homemade bomb found in Burns Park the morning of March 5.
"That's the thing that concerns us," he said.
Authorities were looking into connections between the incidents. An investigation is ongoing.
1 chased, arrested in LR store heist
A man robbed a gas station at gunpoint and led Little Rock police on a brief chase Tuesday afternoon, police reported.
Officers responded about 2:28 p.m. to a Citgo station at 5924 Baseline Road. An employee, Amina Ali, 42, said two armed men entered the business, took an undisclosed amount of money and fled to a Chevrolet Suburban, according to a police report. But the vehicle didn't start.
The robbers ran one block north to a Foodwise supermarket, where one of them took a man's Ford Mustang at gunpoint and drove north on Geyer Springs Road, according to the report. Police chased the man about 11/2 miles to a church parking lot in the 7400 block of Lancaster Road, according to the report. That's where the man fled on foot into a residential area.
Police soon arrested Laron Griffin, 29, of Maumelle.
No injuries were reported.
Griffin was charged with fleeing, reckless driving, failure to stop after an accident, two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of theft of property. He was being held in the Pulaski County jail Wednesday.
The second robber last was seen fleeing the Foodwise supermarket parking lot on foot, police said. He's described as black, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 150 pounds. He wore a green shirt and light-colored pants.
Child pornography leads to LR arrest
Little Rock police and U.S. marshals arrested a man after reportedly finding child pornography at his home Tuesday.
Authorities executed a federal search warrant at 2:42 p.m. at Lot 279 of the Knollwood Mobile Home Park, 12109 Stagecoach Road. Wade Allen Whitfield, 51, admitted to "possessing, viewing and then deleting child pornography from his home computer," according to a police report.
A search of Whitfield's computer yielded video of a man sexually assaulting a young girl, according to the report.
Whitfield was charged with computer child pornography, a felony. He was being held at the Pulaski County jail Wednesday.
Door kicked in, woman assaulted
Armed men forced their way inside a woman's Little Rock apartment Monday in search of money, police reported.
Tammy Huffman, 22, said she was home at 8485 Stanton Road when two men with guns kicked down the door about 9:45 a.m., according to a police report. One of the men grabbed her by the hair and dragged her around the residence asking, "Where is the money?"
The men soon fled empty-handed.
Huffman declined medical treatment at the scene, police said. Her two children, ages 11 and 10, were home during the holdup. The elder sibling told police the intruders fled in a white, four-door Honda, the report states.
The men were both described as black and 6 feet tall with facial hair. More detailed descriptions were unavailable.
No arrests had been made Wednesday.
In sex cases, five arrested at hotels
The Pulaski County sheriff's office arrested five people Tuesday on charges relating to prostitution.
According to sheriff's office reports, the arrests took place at two hotels in North Little Rock. Two people were arrested at the Americas Best Value Inn at 3100 Main St., and three people were arrested at the Days Inn at 7200 Bicentennial Road.
Jerrica Hillis, 26, was arrested after agreeing to have sex with an undercover investigator for $200 at the Days Inn, according to a report. Hillis was charged with prostitution and possession of drug paraphernalia after officers found she had a clear baggie with crystal methamphetamine residue.
Amy Hartsell, 47, of Little Rock drove a vehicle that transported a woman to meet an undercover investigator for sex, according to the reports. Hartsell also was arrested on charges of promoting prostitution, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of a Schedule IV substance after officers found she had crystal methamphetamine, a pill and a pipe.
Kayli Martin, 20, of Sherwood was the third woman arrested at the Days Inn. She was in a vehicle that brought a woman to meet an undercover investigator for sex, the report said. Officers found 3 grams of crystal methamphetamine and clear plastic baggies when they searched her, the report said. She was arrested and charged with promoting prostitution, possession of a Schedule II substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A Massachusetts woman and Tennessee man were arrested at the Americas Best Value Inn.
Shianne Robinson, 40, of Haverhill, Mass., made an agreement for sex in exchange for money with an undercover investigator, the report said. She was charged with prostitution.
Fredrick Burns, 28, of Memphis was the only man arrested Tuesday night. The arrest report said he gave someone a ride to the Americas Best Value Inn and watched as they walked into the room that undercover investigators had been using for their operation.
All five people were not listed on the Pulaski County jail roster Wednesday night.
Metro on 07/02/2015