Two Missouri men were arrested during St. Patrick's Day weekend after trying to make off with the statue of a mob boss sitting outside a Hot Springs bar, authorities said.
Mike Pettey, owner of the Ohio Club, 336 Central Ave., said he was inside the bar early Saturday morning when a patron went in and told him, "I just saw Al [Capone] going down the sidewalk."
Pettey said he gave chase, eventually catching the men and returning the statue to the bar.
Mason Potter Jr., 24, and Andrew Vaughn, 25, were arrested and face charges of public intoxication and criminal mischief, according to Cpl. Joey Williams, a spokesman for the Hot Springs Police Department. Neither was listed in a Garland County jail roster Monday.
Pettey, 57, bought a life-size statue of Capone when he took over the Ohio Club nine years ago, and the statue has sat outside during operating hours ever since. The bar, which opened in 1905 and claims to be Arkansas' oldest, was host to a number of well-known gangsters, including Bugsy Siegel, Bugs Moran, Lucky Luciano and Capone, according to the business's website.
Pettey said he bought the statue to attract attention to the bar and its history. He said this was the first time anybody had attempted to steal it. St. Patrick's Day weekend was an especially easy time to make off with the gangster because of the crowd in Hot Springs, he said. Between the Rebel Stakes thoroughbred race at Oaklawn Park and the World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade held downtown, Pettey said, the Ohio Club saw record business.
"It was just a sea of people out there," he said.
When Pettey was alerted to the theft in progress, he left the bar, spotted two men carrying the statue -- still in its chair -- and hurried down the sidewalk after them. Pettey managed to catch up with the men and recover the statue, he said.
"I proved one of the laws of physics, I think," he said. "One old guy is faster than two young guys carrying a statue."
The statue sustained an estimated $1,000 in damage, authorities said. The statue had cracks in its head, shoulder, arms and legs after it was dropped several times, said Pettey, adding that it will take some time to repair.
"It'll probably be about three months' rehab, but he's expected to make a full recovery," Pettey said.
In the meantime, Capone's chair sits empty outside the Ohio Club. In the mobster's place is a wreath with a sash that reads, "Get well soon, Al."
Williams said the St. Patrick's Day crowd was well-behaved and that little else out of the ordinary took place over the weekend in the city.
"If that's the worst we've had all weekend, then we're doing good," Williams said.
State Desk on 03/19/2019