BENTONVILLE -- A Bella Vista man was ordered to pay $8,000 and spend one year on probation after admitting he vandalized the Confederate statue that stood on downtown square.
Jeremy Ordaz, 41, pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor criminal mischief. He was originally facing a felony charge, but agreed to the misdemeanor plea to resolve the case.
Ordaz and Laura Hammarstrom, 45, of Bentonville were arrested in September 2019 after attempting to pull the statue down, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Police officer David Leehans saw a crowd gathered on the square about 10:45 p.m. Sept. 22 and a man flagged him down, according to the affidavit. Leehans said a man with a bandanna over his face left the area, and Hammarstrom was standing on a pedestal near the statue.
Hammarstrom told Leehans she was trying to tear down the statue, the affidavit says. She said she had been trying for five years to remove the statue, which depicts an unnamed Confederate soldier holding a rifle.
Hammarstrom and some friends were discussing the statue during dinner at a restaurant on the square and returned later to tear it down, according to the affidavit.
Police were told Ordaz climbed on the statue and broke the rifle with a hammer, according to the affidavit.
A company estimated it will cost $12,000 to $16,000 to repair it, the affidavit said.
Brynna Barnica, deputy prosecutor, told Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren the statue owners -- the Arkansas Division United Daughters of the Confederacy -- opposed the plea agreement and wanted the maximum punishment for Ordaz.
The plea agreement requires Ordaz to spend one year on state supervised probation, do 190 hours of community service and pay $8,000.
Karren said the agreement requires Ordaz to pay the money Wednesday.
Hammarstom's case was resolved through a diversion agreement requiring her to not commit any criminal acts for six months. She was also required to pay $16,000 by a Dec. 15 hearing, but she only has to pay half since Ordaz is paying $8,000. The case will dismissed if she abides by the terms.
The monument had been on the square since 1908 in an agreement with Benton County, but was removed Sept. 2, and will be in a private park in Bentonville. The statue will be the centerpiece of the park.
The Arkansas Division United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Benton County Historical Society unveiled designs for James H. Berry Park on Tuesday. The park will be at the corner of Southwest Fifth and Southwest F streets, adjacent to the Bentonville Cemetery where Berry is buried. The one-acre park is privately owned, but will be open to the public, said Joey McCutchen, who represents the Daughters of the Confederacy.
Berry served as a Civil War officer, lawyer, Arkansas legislator, speaker of the state House of Representatives and circuit judge for the 4th Judicial District. He was elected Arkansas's 14th governor and then served as a U.S. senator from 1885 to 1907, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Tracy M. Neal can be reached by email at [email protected] or Twitter @NWATracy.