Little Rock parolee blames ‘demon’ drugs, gets 30 years for robberies, break-ins

A 45-year-old Little Rock parolee who blamed his “demon” drug addiction for a monthlong eight-city, four-county string of business break-ins and snatch-and-grab robberies has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes he committed in Pulaski County.

Sentencing papers filed this week show that Jermaine Martel Brown, who also has lived in Jacksonville, pleaded guilty to 17 felony charges: nine counts of commercial burglary, five counts of robbery, two counts of criminal mischief and one of attempted commercial burglary.

Brown cooperated with law officers after his arrest and admitted to what he’d done in Pulaski County, court filings show.

“Mr. Brown advised that he had lost his job recently and developed drug problems, which led him to do the things he was doing. He advised that he wanted to cooperate and take responsibility for his actions,” a Little Rock police report states.

Brown told Saline County sheriff’s deputies that he’d overcome drug addiction through treatment and had landed a good job in southwest Little Rock, making “good” money that allowed him to buy a car, furniture and other items.

“He continued by saying that one day, the ‘demon reared its ugly head again’ and that he began using drugs again. He said in order to support his drug habit, he began doing the robberies,” according to a Saline County deputy’s report. “He said he did not do anything to hurt anyone physically, that is why he never used a firearm.”

This will be Brown’s third incarceration in the penitentiary. Court records show he already had 20 felony convictions for breaking or entering, commercial burglary, criminal mischief and theft collected in Jefferson County during a seven-year span beginning in 2007. He was last sent to prison in April 2015 on an 18-year sentence after pleading guilty to commercial burglary, prison records show.

He can qualify for parole in October 2028. But under the plea agreement negotiated between his attorney, Rebecca Ferguson, and prosecutors Anna Catherine Cargile and Reese Lancaster, Brown will begin serving a seven-year suspended sentence once he is released from prison.

The first crime attributed to Brown is an attempted burglary on Aug. 12 at the Sunny Mart at 700 E. Broadway in North Little Rock.

Court files show his burglary style was consistent. Most of the time, he’d use a rock to break out glass at his target, get inside, then steal as many cigarettes or other goods as he could carry, sometimes in a plastic bag he had with him. Police had collected security video from several of the stores.

On Aug. 13, he burglarized the Exxon at 418 E. Broadway in North Little Rock.

He didn’t strike again in Pulaski County until Sept. 4, when he broke into the Walgreens at 2500 McCain Blvd.in North Little Rock. The following day he burglarized both the Flash Market at 8623 Warden Road in Sherwood and Sullivant’s Liquor Store at 8122 Cantrell Road in Little Rock.

On Sept. 7, he hit the Shell Superstop at 2701 MacArthur Drive in North Little Rock and Doublebee’s Exxon, 10705 N. Rodney Parham Road in Little Rock. Two days later, he broke into the Valero gas station at 2715 W. 65th St. in Little Rock.

Next, he turned to robbery on Sept. 10, hitting five stores in two days. Police reports show that he generally used the same technique each time to get the clerk to open the cash register. He’d make a small purchase, then when the clerk started to make change, Brown would reach into the register and grab money. What otherwise would be considered a misdemeanor theft became a felony robbery when Brown fought with the clerks when they tried to resist him or to get the money back.

His first robbery was at the Jacksonville Valero. On Sept. 11, he burglarized the Dollar General at 380 S. James St. in Jacksonville and also robbed a Citgo. That evening, he robbed two Little Rock businesses nine minutes apart, the E-Z Mart at 2711 W. Markham St. and the Walgreens at 3901 W. Markham St.

On Sept. 12, he robbed the Shell Super Stop at 4111 S. University Ave. in Little Rock and also burglarized the Kum & Go at 6201 Colonel Glenn Road in Little Rock.

Police in the three cities, along with parole authorities, had been looking for Brown for almost two weeks by the time Little Rock police captured him on Sept. 13. Brown fought with officers who took him into custody in the 1700 block of South Battery Street just before 10 p.m., court records show.

Brown appears to have first come to the attention of investigators around the end of August when a TV news report about a robbery suspect in Hensley led to a former work supervisor contacting police with his name.

Brown still faces charges of robbery, commercial burglary and breaking or entering in Faulkner, Grant and Saline counties:

Aug. 20, theft of money from the Superstop at 20706 Arch St. Hensley.

Aug. 27, theft of cash from the Bullocks Superstop in Benton.

Aug. 29, robbery at the Tobacco Superstore in Sheridan.

Sept. 13, robbery of the Valero/Circle K convenience store in Mayflower.

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