A Berryville man has pleaded guilty to robbing a Eureka Springs bank, fleeing in a taxi and then using the stolen money to buy a motorcycle at a Bentonville police officer's house.
Hunter Cody Chafin, then 19, went into First National Bank of North Arkansas on Oct. 14, identified himself and checked to see if his account was open, according to the plea agreement filed in federal court Wednesday.
He then went outside and returned, handing the same teller a note that read "$50s & $100s Only! NO Trouble. I have a gun."
The teller gave Chafin $3,350 and returned the note at his request, according to the plea agreement.
Chafin then fled in a taxi, which had arrived outside the bank. Chafin told the cab driver his name and asked to be taken to a home in Bentonville.
Unaware a robbery had taken place, the cab driver drove Chafin 40 miles west to Bentonville and left him at a police officer's house, according to a probable cause affidavit by Billy Cox, a special agent for the FBI.
When they arrived in Bentonville, Chafin paid the cab driver $150, then purchased a Honda motorcycle from the resident for $2,900.
"The seller's father was a Bentonville police officer and had just arrived home from work in uniform, driving his marked patrol car," according to the plea agreement.
About three minutes after Chafin bought the bike, Bentonville police Cpl. Steve Vera got a telephone call saying a taxi had just dropped a bank robbery suspect off at his house, said Gene Page, a spokesman for the police department.
Realizing he sold his motorcycle to the robber, Vera and another officer left in search of Chafin and arrested him as he was traveling south on Walton Boulevard. Chafin had gotten about 4 miles from Vera's home before being arrested.
Page said he doesn't believe Chafin knew he arranged to buy the motorcycle from a police officer's son.
Chafin told Eureka Springs police he just needed some money to change his life, according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
Chafin told his roommate he planned to get a bank loan, buy the motorcycle and move to Florida, according to a Eureka Springs police report.
When police arrested Chafin, he was unarmed, but in his pockets they found the robbery note, $200 and a band used to wrap a stack of bills with the notation "$1,000" on it, according to the plea agreement.
Chafin told police an acquaintance had given him a ride to the bank and dropped him off.
Chafin pleaded not guilty when arraigned in January in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith.
Bank robbery falls under Title 18, Section 2113(a) of United States Code when "force and violence," intimidation or extortion are employed by the suspect. The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Chafin will be sentenced at a later date. He was ordered in October to undergo a mental examination and was found competent to proceed to trial.
In the plea agreement, Chafin agreed to pay full restitution.
NW News on 03/11/2017