Parolee charged in drive-thru stabbing
Little Rock police on Wednesday arrested a parolee accused of fatally stabbing a man in the throat and then stealing his car four days earlier.
Harlon Finney, also known as “Little Money,” was charged with capital murder. He remained at the Pulaski County jail, where he had a parole hold.
Finney, 44, is accused of fatally stabbing Billy Howard, 56, of 8 Roxbury Drive, at a southwest Little Rock liquor store early Saturday, Little Rock police said.
Just after midnight, Howard was found unresponsive in a pool of blood in the drive-thru lane of Base Line Liquor Store at 8524 Base Line Road, according to a police report. Howard was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock, where he died about 45 minutes later.
Howard had been in the drive-thru lane in a black 2002 Honda Accord when he got into an argument with another man, police said. A witness who drove up behind Howard told officers that he saw two men fighting in front of the Accord when one man “gave two punches” to Howard’s throat, the report states.
The witness then realized Howard had been stabbed, and Howard fell onto his car’s hood and onto the ground, police said.
The man who stabbed Howard then drove away in the Accord. Officers found the car later that morning, police said.
Howard’s death marked Little Rock’s 22nd homicide this year, down from 35 at the same time last year.
Finney, who has been in and out of state prison since 1986, most recently was released from prison on parole June 7, after having his probation revoked in April 2012 on past convictions.
He was reported as absconding from parole Tuesday, according to correction officials.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE2 questioned about body on rural road
NEWPORT - Authorities questioned two people Tuesday evening and Wednesday in the discovery of a body along a rural Jackson County road, Sheriff David Lucas said.
No arrests have been made, he said.
Jackson County deputies found the body of Harold Lee Hagar, 66, of Newport in a ditch along County Road 42 on Tuesday afternoon.
Lucas said Hagar had been shot in the head. Authorities sent Hagar’s body to the state Crime Laboratory on Wednesday for autopsy, he said.
Lucas said the investigation is continuing.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEConway school bus crashes into ditch
CONWAY - A Conway School District bus crashed into a ditch along a curving road Wednesday afternoon.
No serious injuries were reported.
The bus was carrying students home from classes when it left the roadway and careened into a ditch at 3:53 p.m., said officer Sean Canady, a spokesman for the Conway Police Department.
The bus did not overturnafter leaving the pavement, Canady said.
The crash caused “some bumps and bruises,” but “nothing serious,” the officer said.
School Superintendent Greg Murry said five children suffered minor injuries. Canady said he did not know how many children were on the bus at the time.
The cause of the crash was still under investigation, he said.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTERunaway boy, 12, found, police say
CONWAY - A 12-yearold boy who police said had stolen his grandfather’s truck and run away Tuesday night was found in Conway early Thursday.
Police said Justin Staton of Conway had taken the pickup, a credit card and about $100 from his grandparents, with whom he lived.
Messages that Justin sent to a friend had indicated he wanted to leave the state, but police said a patrol officer found the child about 5 a.m. Thursday in Conway.
The stolen truck was found Wednesday evening on Stockton Road, where it had been since early in the day.
Police said Justin was found near the site of the recovered truck.
“After transporting him back to the police department, he was released to his grandparents,” a police news release stated.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTELawmen investigate severed power line
The FBI is helping to investigate a cut electric transmission line that shut down traffic near Cabot for several hours Wednesday, according to the agency.
Entergy Arkansas found a fallen “high-tension” transmission line on Arkansas 321 near a Union Pacific railroad track just east of Cabot, the release states.
Traffic was closed as crews worked to repair it, but no power failures were reported, the release states.
After inspecting the line, officials said the line was cut intentionally, adding that the suspect climbed a 100-foot tall tower, used a saw to cut the line and removed several bolts at the tower’s base.
The FBI is helping the Cabot Police Department and Lonoke County sheriff’s office investigate the matter.
Officials ask anyone with information to call the FBI’s Little Rock field office at (501) 221-9100 or email Little.[email protected].
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEMan, daughter die in log-truck crash
ASHDOWN - Authorities said a father and daughter in southern Arkansas were killed when their car was struck by a log truck.
Arkansas State Police said the crash happened Wednesday afternoon in Ashdown. A preliminary report said Aubrey Sims, 81, failed to yield at a stop sign and was struck by the truck, which wasn’t hauling any logs at the time.
Sims died in the crash along with his passenger, Ronda Sims, 49. The Texarkana Gazette reported that Aubrey Sims was Ronda Sims’ father.
The driver of the log truck wasn’t injured.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 08/23/2013