Fort Smith man pleads guilty to credit union holdup

 Clarence Williams
Clarence Williams

FAYETTEVILLE -- A Fort Smith man pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbing a Fayetteville credit union last year.

Clarence E. Williams, 66, of 823 N. Seventh St. in Fort Smith pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated robbery. He was sentenced by Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay to 14 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Police said Williams walked into the Northwest Arkansas Federal Credit Union at 1460 N. Woolsey Ave. about 2:18 p.m. Sept. 8, took out what appeared to be a gun and demanded money.

Williams fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money, police said. No one was hurt.

Charles Duell, deputy prosecuting attorney, said Williams will not be eligible for parole because of prior convictions, including a drug conviction in the 1970s and an aggravated robbery conviction from 2008.

Employees told police the man who robbed the credit union wore burn bandages and had burn marks on him. Williams is missing an ear and has a prominent scar across his neck.

"That was just a disguise," Duell said. "Obviously, he would have been easy to identify if he'd gone in there without those scars covered up."

Duell said Williams had a pellet gun, which he dropped and broke during the robbery. Williams was cooperative and confessed to police when he was captured, Duell said.

Williams' stated motive for the robbery was that he was dissatisfied with how he had been treated by the Veterans Administration and the credit bureau over the years, Duell said.

Williams drove to Joplin, Mo., after the robbery and paid for his lunch with some of the stolen money, Duell said. Williams told police he planned to drive to Oregon, where he had family members, but had a change of heart and didn't want to get them involved so he headed back to Fort Smith.

An FBI special agent saw Williams' vehicle traveling south on Interstate 49 and followed Williams until state troopers arrived. Williams crashed his vehicle after a short pursuit. He ran and was caught by troopers and FBI agents.

Police found a black canvas duffel bag with a large amount of cash in Williams' wrecked vehicle.

Williams had been scheduled for trial next week.

NW News on 04/14/2016

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