Bomb scare reported at Fayetteville bank

Betty Davis, 73, is led out of the Arvest Bank on Monday on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Fayetteville after the police and bomb squad were called to the bank after the woman reported she had been kidnapped and a bomb had been strapped to her ankle. She was led out of the bank after the device had been removed.
Betty Davis, 73, is led out of the Arvest Bank on Monday on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Fayetteville after the police and bomb squad were called to the bank after the woman reported she had been kidnapped and a bomb had been strapped to her ankle. She was led out of the bank after the device had been removed.

4:19 p.m. update

The woman involved has been identified as Betty Davis, 73, according to a news release from the Fayetteville Police Department.

4:08 p.m. update

Washington County Sheriff's Deputies are looking for a kidnapping suspect connected to today's bomb scare at a Fayetteville bank, according to a news release.

The news release stated that deputies responded to a possible home invasion at 15860 E. Black Oak Road in connection with the bomb scare at 10:41 a.m.

Deputies found the husband of the woman in the bomb scare tied up at the house, according to the news release. The man was not injured.

Police are now looking for a man of an unknown age, possibly driving a stolen silver Ford F-150 pickup, license No. 291JHZ. The truck has an eight-foot bed and a bed liner, the news release stated.

2:31 p.m. update

Police are looking for at least one person in a stolen vehicle who reportedly kidnapped a Washington County couple and forced the wife to attempt a bank robbery with a device that looked like a bomb attached to her leg.

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A member of the Bentonville Bomb Squad leaves the Arvest Bank, Monday Jan, 9, 2012, in Fayetteville after the police and the squad were called out to the bank were a woman reported she had been kidnapped and a bomb strapped to her ankle. She had been lead out earlier after the suspected device looked to have been removed.

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Betty Davis stands outside of the Arvest Bank on in Fayetteville, Monday Jan. 9, 2012, as police officers approach her. The police and Bomb Squad were called out to the bank after Davis reported she had been kidnapped and a bomb was strapped to her ankle.

Officers responded at 10:29 a.m. to the Arvest Bank branch at 3045 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and found the woman. Police asked the woman to remain in front of the building while they waited for the regional bomb squad, based in Bentonville, to arrive. The bank was evacuated.

Sgt. Craig Stout, Fayetteville police spokesman, said the woman was cooperative and did not display any signs of deception. Once the bomb unit arrived, officers escorted the woman to a Fayetteville police cruiser where she was examined and later driven to police headquarters around noon, said Stout.

"They got the device off the lady," Stout said. "We're going to take her up to the police department and start talking to her there and figure out what her intentions were as to what happened, whether it was if she had intentions to rob the bank or someone put her up to it."

The husband was reportedly found at the couple's home on Black Oak Road, but Kelly Cantrell, a spokeswoman for the Washington County Sheriff's Office, said she could not release any details at 1:30 p.m.

Law enforcement agencies in the area are searching for a silver Ford F150, believed to belong to the husband, that was reportedly taken by the man or men involved.

12:12 p.m. update

Fayetteville Police say a woman walked into an Arvest Bank branch on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard this morning saying she had been kidnapped and a bomb had been placed on her leg apparently as part of a bank robbery attempt.

Officers have now cleared the area around the Arvest branch at 3045 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which is west of Interstate 540 near Walmart and Lowe's. The region's bomb squad responded this morning and sent a man wearing protective equipment into the bank, which had been evacuated. The man spent about 10 minutes inside. The bomb squad left the bank shortly before noon.

The woman, who appeared to be in her 50s or 60s, was taken by police to their downtown headquarters for questioning. A police spokesman said details remain sketchy.

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