The attorney for a Berryville man charged with robbing a Eureka Springs bank so he could buy a motorcycle from a Bentonville police officer is asking that his client be tested to determine his mental competency.
Assistant Federal Public Defender James Pierce filed the motion Wednesday in federal court requesting an order for a mental examination of Hunter Cody Chafin.
Pierce said in the motion there was reason to believe Chafin may suffer from a mental disease or defect that would render him unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense.
Chafin, 19, is being held in the Washington County jail. He was arrested Oct. 14 in the robbery of the First National Bank of Arkansas' Eureka Springs branch.
Court records say the bank robber entered the bank, asked if his accounts were still open, then waited outside until a taxi he had summoned arrived.
He then went back into the bank and handed a note to a teller saying "50's and 100's only! No trouble, I have gun!" The teller gave him $3,350 after which the robber left the bank. Chafin was unarmed when he was arrested.
The bank robber hopped into the taxi and told the driver, who was unaware of the robbery, to drive him to an address in Bentonville 40 miles away. He paid the taxi driver $150 for the ride.
The cabdriver dropped the robber off at the address in Bentonville where a Honda motorcycle was advertised for sale on the Internet. He bought the motorcycle for $2,900.
Minutes after he drove away on the motorcycle, Bentonville police Cpl. Steve Vera received a call saying a cabdriver had just dropped off a bank robbery suspect at his address. Vera realized he had sold the motorcycle to the bank robber, and he and another officer left in search of the man. They soon caught up with him and made an arrest.
An FBI affidavit said Chafin was found with $200 cash, a money band marked $1,000, a bill of sale for the motorcycle for $2,900 and the robbery note he had given the bank teller.
State Desk on 10/28/2016