HOT SPRINGS -- A suspect in an aggravated residential burglary earlier this summer was arrested after a two-hour standoff with Hot Springs police Wednesday at a residence on Lawson Street. A nearby day care was evacuated as a precaution.
Andre Leonard Flowers, 35, who lists a Las Vegas address, was taken into custody shortly after 12:30 p.m. on felony warrants alleging aggravated residential burglary, punishable by up to life in prison, and first-degree battery, punishable by up to 20 years. The arrest followed a standoff with SWAT officers who fired tear gas and set off "flash-bang" devices to force Flowers to surrender, according to reports.
The standoff began about 10:30 a.m. after police learned that Flowers was inside the house, Hot Springs police Cpl. Kirk Zaner said. Officers set up a perimeter and evacuated the nearby day care, then activated the Police Department's SWAT unit.
Officers attempted to talk with Flowers on a phone they had placed next to the front door, but when that failed, they used "flash-bang" devices, according to reports.
Emergency personnel could be seen giving Flowers oxygen after his arrest.
Flowers is scheduled to appear Aug. 29 in Garland County District Court.
Flowers was wanted in a June 22 incident in which Flowers and a reported accomplice, Jeremy Douglas James, 35, beat a local man until he was unconscious, according to reports. James was arrested July 26 on the same charges as Flowers after a brief standoff with SWAT team members at a mobile home in the 100 block of Ward Street, authorities said.
According to an affidavit in the case, police officers went June 22 to the apartments at 2000 Central Ave. in reference to a disturbance and found a man, 39, unconscious and gasping for breath, lying in the hallway outside his apartment.
A witness told officers that the injured man had been arguing with two men outside the apartment. At one point, the victim turned to walk back into his apartment and was followed by both suspects, reports said. Moments later, both suspects "hurriedly fled the scene," according to reports.
Later that day, detectives spoke with the victim's girlfriend, who said she saw the victim argue with a suspect, identified as Flowers, reports say.
She said Flowers pulled a knife and the victim also grabbed a knife to defend himself. After the two "exchanged words," the victim turned to walk back inside. At that point, Flowers "rushed" him, pushing him inside and hitting him on his head and face, the reports say.
The victim was transported to a hospital for treatment of numerous injuries, including a contusion near his left eye and bruising along the center of his neck. A CT scan revealed that the victim suffered bleeding in the brain and swelling in his neck, and there were preliminary indications of a lack of oxygen to his brain, reports said.
State Desk on 08/18/2017