GRAVETTE — Benton County Sheriff's Office requested an arrest warrant for Billy Joe Fouts, Jr., 31, of Rocky Dell Hollow Rd., in Gravette, in connection to a reported armed robbery on Nov. 2 near Gravette. Charges listed on the Nov. 2 affidavit of probable cause include aggravated robbery, terroristic threatening, kidnapping, battery and theft of property, all felonies.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, deputies took a report shortly before 6 a.m. at 20908 W. Highway 72, near Gravette (in the Hiwasse area), of two males knocking on the door and stating they had run out of gas. When they were invited inside, the two males allegedly pulled guns on two male victims in the home and took some money, guns and a vehicle. They allegedly threatened to kill one of the victims if the other did not cooperate.
According to the affidavit, one of the victims' hands were allegedly bound behind his back with the cord from a vacuum cleaner. He was then placed in the first victim's car and driven to the Bank of Gravett in Gravette where one of the alleged robbers, after numerous attempts, used the first victim's ATM card to withdraw an undisclosed amount of cash from the victim's bank account before returning to the residence. The alleged robbers then left the second victim bound and took a 1998 Ford Ranger pickup truck, a television and several rifles from the residence.
According to the affidavit, Fouts was identified by bank employees in photos taken by the Bank of Gravett's ATM machine. The bank also confirmed two failed attempts and a successful attempt to withdraw cash from the victim's bank account with his debit card shortly after 5 a.m. on Nov. 2.
No information was available at press time on the identity of the second alleged robber or if an arrest warrant had yet been served on Fouts.
General News on 11/09/2016