JONESBORO -- Police said they believe a Helena-West Helena man charged with capital murder as a youth is behind armed robberies there, in St. Louis and in Jonesboro, where officers arrested him this week across the street from the Police Department.
The Jonesboro Police Department's Special Weapons and Tactics team arrested Nicholas Dismuke, 21, at the Chateau Apartments on South Caraway Road on Tuesday evening after the robbery of a nearby convenience store, Capt. Lynn Waterworth said.
Police sought Dismuke in a series of robberies a week earlier in Helena-West Helena after authorities said they identified him from surveillance videos. In one robbery, Dismuke was videotaped brandishing a TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol, police said.
"We needed to get this guy off the street," Helena-West Helena Police Chief Virgil Green Sr. said Thursday. "It was a just a matter of time before something tragic happened."
In June 2011, the state Supreme Court ruled that Dismuke had to be tried as a minor in the Jan. 30, 2010, beating death of Leonard "Sandy" Wall, a security guard at the Jack Jones Juvenile Justice Center in Pine Bluff. Dismuke was 15 at the time of Wall's death, which occurred as Dismuke and two others escaped from the lockup.
Juvenile-court matters are confidential under the law, so the resolution of that case is unknown. Dismuke was released when he turned 18.
Co-defendant Christopher Beverage is serving a 50-year sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the killing. Another co-defendant, Brandon Henderson, is serving 25 years after he pleaded guilty to theft of property and third-degree escape after making a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.
Green said Thursday that Dismuke is a suspect in the robberies of three stores in five days this month in Helena-West Helena.
Dismuke is believed to be the robber who on Sept. 14 forced two employees into the Perry Street Market at gunpoint, Green said.
He's also believed later to have robbed the Dollar General store on Sebastian Street, pointing a .357 Magnum at several customers, Green said.
On Sept. 18, Dismuke is believed to have entered the Corner Market on South Seventh Street with the TEC-9, the police chief said.
"Video shows him pulling the slide back on the weapon," Green said. "The store was full of people. It could have been bad."
Missouri authorities also are seeking Dismuke in several armed robberies in St. Louis, including one at a pawnshop where Green said Dismuke may have stolen the machine gun.
Earlier this month, Arkansas State Police received a tip from lawmen in Missouri that Dismuke was in Jonesboro.
On Sept. 13, a state trooper said he spotted Dismuke's vehicle on South Caraway Road and chased it. Dismuke crashed the vehicle and escaped on foot, Waterworth said, adding that police found evidence linking Dismuke to some robberies.
On Tuesday, Jonesboro police said they responded to a robbery at the Exxon station at Caraway Road and Matthews Avenue, and chased Dismuke into the Chateau Apartments across Caraway Road from the Jonesboro police station.
Dismuke ran into an apartment, and officers tracked him using police dogs, then called in the SWAT team, Waterworth said. He was arrested in one of the apartments, Waterworth said.
"There were no problems with the arrest, but we wanted to play it safe," Waterworth said. "There were a lot of people in the complex, and we wanted to ensure their safety by calling the SWAT team."
Dismuke was being held Thursday in the Craighead County jail with his bail set at $500,000.
Waterworth said she expects St. Louis police to extradite him to Missouri to also face charges there.
"We're glad we got this guy before he killed someone," Green said. "He had made comments to others that he was not going back to jail.
"He was wrong about that."
State Desk on 09/25/2015