HOT SPRINGS -- A Hot Springs man was arrested Friday evening on accusations that he called the Hot Springs Police Department with a report of a bomb.
Benjamin David Lawrence, 32, who lists a Hobson Street address, was taken into custody shortly after 9:30 p.m. Friday and charged with terroristic threatening, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison; communicating false alarm, punishable by up to one year; and obstructing governmental operations, punishable by up to 30 days.
He remained in custody Monday in lieu of $4,000 bond and is set to appear next Tuesday in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, at 7:40 p.m. Friday, someone contacted the Police Department from a cellphone stating that there was a bomb downtown. The Police Department narrowed down the location of the prepaid AT&T cellphone to Chapel Street. At 8 p.m., the caller contacted the police again advising there was a disturbance in Apartment 16 at the Milstead Apartments.
An officer contacted the caller using the phone number that had been used for both reports. The caller was noted to have distinctive speech -- slurred and in low volume, the affidavit said. Officers responded to Milstead Apartments, 137 Chapel St., where they reported finding Lawrence.
A dispatcher called the phone number used in the reports and a black AT&T flip phone in Lawrence's possession started to ring, displaying the department's phone number, police said.
Metro on 11/23/2016