Three people have pleaded innocent in Crawford County Circuit Court to charges connected to the Dec. 17 home invasion in Chester of the elderly parents of country western singer Royal Wade Kimes.
The public defender’s office entered innocent pleasWednesday before Circuit Judge Gary Cottrell for Sam Wesley Gypson, 21, and Collin Ray Holson, 18, on charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated residential theft of property with a firearm, breaking or entering, theft and felony with a firearm, according to prosecuting attorney records.
Gypson also was chargedwith being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Gypson was free on a $100,000 bond, and Holson was free on a $75,000 bond, according to the Crawford County circuit clerk’s office.
Also charged in the case was Katelyn Bradway, 18, with hindering apprehension or prosecution. Van Buren attorneyDavid Moore entered an innocent plea for her and waived the arraignment. She is free on a $3,500 bond, records show.
Gypson and Holson were charged in the break-in at the home of Glen and Bernice Kimes, both in their 80s, on the night of Dec. 17.
Sheriff ’s Chief Deputy Jimmy Damante said earlierthat two men, wearing masks and gloves, broke into the home and held the Kimeses at gunpoint while ransacking the home looking for money and drugs. Glen Kimes gave the intruders $60 from his wallet, and deputies said the thieves also made off with jewelry from the home.
Gypson and Holson were arrested two days later after a Chester resident reported seeing two men trying to break into another Chester residence. A deputy responding to the call chased Holson to his home across Arkansas 282 from the Kimeses’ home, reports said. Holson lives in the home with Bradway, Damante said.
Holson was arrested wearing the same clothing that Kimes described as what one of the intruders wore on the night of the home invasion, Damante said.
Bradway was arrested and accused of sending a text message to Gypson that sheriff’s deputies were looking for him, reports said. Deputies were able to locate and arrest Gypson at the Fort Smith bus station, Damante said, adding that he had a bus ticket to San Diego.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/09/2014