2nd LR robber not ruled out

Prosecutor to review bystander’s gunshots outside bank

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

After the Monday night arrest of a man in a robbery and nonfatal shooting earlier that afternoon in west Little Rock, detectives were still figuring out if they are looking for a second suspect Tuesday, police said.

Minutes after the 1:35 p.m. shooting outside the Arvest bank at 16107 Chenal Parkway, police found a suspect vehicle in a nearby apartment complex and detained two people, but only Milton Parker was charged in the robbery, according to department spokesman Sgt. Cassandra Davis. The other man, who police have not identified, was released without charges.

Parker, 22, of Sherwood was identified by “a person in the [suspect vehicle]” as the man who robbed and shot Mohamed Eid outside the bank in front of several witnesses, according to arrest reports, while Parker’s public defender said at Parker’s initial court appearance Tuesday morning that it was his “co-defendant” who identified him for police.

Davis said she didn’t know the details involving a second suspect and that detectives are sifting several witness accounts.

Whether Eid was targeted by the suspect, Davis said, is also under investigation.

Witnesses said that Eid told them that he lay on the ground and handed the robber a money bag before he was shot in the leg.

Although she couldn’t say with “absolute” certainty, Davis said detectives were told that Eid is a business owner and came to the bank Monday, one of the few open on a federal banking holiday, to make a large cash deposit.

Davis said detectives are figuring out if Eid’s robbery was random or planned.

A man dressed in scrubs, who police identified Tuesday as Charles Stearns, 50, of Little Rock grabbed a gun out of his car when he saw the robbery across the street, police said, and fired “at least one, probably two” shots at the suspect vehicle.

Stearns missed, Davis said, and one of his roundsstruck the vehicle of another motorist who was on his way out of the Kroger parking lot.

Davis said Stearns has a license to carry a concealed weapon and that he was released from custody after an interview with detectives.

Davis said Stearns’ involvement in the shootout will be reviewed by the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney’s office after an investigation and that she couldn’t comment on his actions amid an ongoing investigation.

According to Arkansas Code Annotated 5-13-204, a person commits aggravated assault, a felony, if they purposefully “[engage] in conduct that creates a substantial danger... to another person” or “displays a firearm in such a manner that creates a substantial danger... to another person.”

But the law also states those standards don’t apply to someone “acting in selfdefense or the defense of a third party.”

Davis said a crime witness’s first duty is to report the crime and stay out ofdanger.

“We encourage if anyone sees a crime ... to call police and give us any suspect information and not ... go and try and apprehend someone,” Davis said. “[Officers are] trained and we have to observe whether firing a weapon is the best course of action ... Look at your surroundings ... bystanders ... [those conditions] should most definitely be a concern for a citizen who is firing a weapon.”

Parker, who faces aggravated robbery, first-degree battery, theft of property and possession of a firearm by a felon charges, remained in the Pulaski County jail Tuesday night, where he was being held in lieu of $500,000 bond after his Tuesday morning court hearing.

In 2010, Parker was given a concurrent eight-year sentence in state prison for robbery, theft of property and breaking and entering charges as well as for commercial burglary at a North Little Rock school.

He was released on parole in May, and absconded from his parole on Aug. 24.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 11/14/2012