Three Little Rock teenagers charged with armed robbery were arrested after a holdup victim whose phone was stolen got a new one and found photos of the suspects among his old pictures, Little Rock police detectives testified Tuesday.
Two of the suspects, Keith Lamont Harris, 16, and Davin Terrell Allen, 17, were in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Tuesday to petition Judge Herb Wright to transfer their charges to juvenile court.
Wright concluded the 90-minute hearing by saying he'd release his decision within a week. Their attorneys, Willard Proctor and Justin Cloar, say their clients are so young that they'd be great candidates for the rehabilitation programs and services in the juvenile-justice system. Prosecutors want to try them as adults.
The third boy, 14-year-old Brian Welch, is scheduled to go before the judge next month with his request to be moved to juvenile court. Police say he's confessed to his part in the July 2016 holdup on Geyer Springs Road, where two men were ambushed in their car after they'd parked at a residence.
All three are charged with two counts each of aggravated robbery and theft over the Geyer Springs Road holdup.
Harris also is facing aggravated-robbery and theft charges over the armed holdup of two other men about three weeks later in front of the Paper Moon nightclub on Mabelvale Pike.
Questioned by deputy prosecutor Martinique Parker, detective Julio Gil testified that all the victims reported being robbed by four people, at least one of whom brandished a gun.
The holdups occurred while police were investigating a series of robberies that targeted Hispanics, the detective said.
Gil told the judge that one of the Geyer Springs Road victims, Gustovo Alberto Martinez, has since dropped out of sight. Many Hispanic victims are leery of police, and some of them have been reluctant to cooperate with detectives because they fear deportation, Gil told the judge.
He testified that police didn't have any leads until Jose Gonzalez, the other Geyer Springs victim, got a new phone in mid-August and found photographs of seven strangers among his old pictures.
He took those photographs to detectives, which led to arrest warrants for the three teens after police recognized them, Gil said.
Gonzalez is certain that Allen and Welch were among the robbers, Gil testified, although he said the victim was not as confident about Harris' identity. Gonzalez also said he thought one of the robbers fired a gun while running away, but later said the sound might have come from a car backfiring, Gil testified.
Gonzalez also circulated the pictures within the Hispanic community as a warning to his friends about who to watch out for, detective Chris Johnson told the judge.
Johnson testified that one of the two Paper Moon victims, Jose Quintero, had the Gonzalez photographs saved on his phone, which was taken by the robbers.
When Quintero replaced his stolen phone, he was able to identify Harris as one of the men who robbed him, Johnson told the judge.
Although Quintero said that he and the other victim, Enrique Martinez, had been accosted by four robbers, Harris was the only one whose photograph Quintero recognized, the detective said.
Metro on 04/26/2017