Jonesboro man arrested on rape charges

JONESBORO — A 66year-old man is being held on a $500,000 bond following a woman’s allegation that he orally raped her.

The Jonesboro Police Department learned of the rape when officers were dispatched Saturday to the 4000 block of Mt. Carmel Road, reports show. The victim, 20, told police that she was sleeping on the couch when Larry Fowler, of Jonesboro, woke her up by removing her pants.

“The female victim stated that she had been sexually assaulted in the past in a separate case so when this incident started, she froze,” the probable cause affidavit read.

During the incident, Fowler told the victim not to report it and she agreed. When the suspect left the room, she ran to another room and told her boyfriend, who is related to Fowler.

“The victim advised that she was not directly threatened during the assault but that she perceived the threat that if she talked, Larry Fowler would do something to her,” the affidavit read. According to the incident report released Monday, the victim was treated for minor injuries at St.

Bernards Medical Center.

Fowler was suspected of using alcohol at the time of his arrest, the report suggests.

District Court Judge David Boling found probable cause Monday to charge Fowler with rape — a Class Y felony punishable by 10-40 years or life imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

“Fowler is being charged with rape because he used forcible compulsion to perform a deviate sexual act on the female victim,” the affidavit read.

As part of his pretrial release, Boling enacted a no-contact order between Fowler and the victim. The suspect’s next court appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 22 in the Craighead County Courthouse, 511 S. Main St., Jonesboro.

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MARSHALL — The police chief of a Searcy County city has resigned after posting online threats of violence that targeted Democrats.

Marshall Mayor Kevin Elliott said in a statement Saturday that Police Chief Lang Holland had resigned effective immediately.

Elliott said the city 'strongly condemns' Holland's posts. He said the community doesn't 'in any way support or condone bullying or threats of violence to anyone of any political persuasion.'

Holland made the comments on Parler, a rightwing site similar to Twitter, and they were no longer viewable as of Saturday evening.

In his posts, Holland echoed President Donald Trump's baseless allegations that the election wasn't fair and that 'illegal' votes were counted, the newspaper reported.

In one post, Holland said that when seeing a 'Marxist Democrat' in public, one should 'get in

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their face and do not give them peace.' He continued: 'Throw water on them at restaurants. Push them off sidewalks. Never let them forget they are traitors and have no right to live in this Republic after what they have done.'

Another stated: 'Death to all Marxist Democrats.

Take no prisoners leave no survivors!!'

Holland also shared an illustration that included Democratic leaders, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wearing orange prison-style jumpsuits, the paper reported.

'I pray all those in that picture hang on the gallows and are drawn and quartered!!!!' he wrote.

'Anything less is not acceptable.'

Holland had been police chief in Marshall, a city of about 1,300 in the Ozarks, for the past two years, Elliott said.

A home phone number for Holland couldn't be found.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, told the newspaper on Saturday that Holland's comments were 'dangerous' and that Holland's departure would be merited.

Holland was among a number of police chiefs and sheriffs in Arkansas who said they wouldn't support Hutchinson's statewide face mask requirement aimed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

After Hutchinson signed the order in July, Holland called it an unconstitutional overreach and said he wouldn't make his officers wear masks.

At the time, Holland, who said he supported President Donald Trump, said: 'All I'm saying is if you want to wear a mask, you have the freedom to choose that. It should not be dictated by the nanny state.'

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FAULKNER COUNTY— A jury of six men and six women deliberated for about 1 hour and twenty minutes Thursday evening before finding Robert L.

Smith III guilty as charged.

Smith admitted he was affiliated with a group known as Murder Gang while on the stand Thursday.

Smith opted to testify on his own behalf in the capital murder trial against him. Smith was the sole witness defense attorney Garfield W. Bloodman called to the stand before resting on Thursday.

The 18-year-old Pine Bluff man was 16 years old when he was charged with capital murder, kidnapping, robbery and theft of property for his involvement in Elvia Fragstein’s disappearance and death. The 72year-old Wooster woman was last seen alive leaving TJ Maxx & HomeGoods in the Conway Commons shopping center on July 7, 2018. Smith’s older cousin, 20-year-old Tacori D.

Mackrell was found guilty as charged by a Faulkner County jury last month and ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Smith, wearing a light yellow button-up shirt and black slacks, took the stand Thursday morning in Courtroom 4 at the Justice Building in Conway.

The young murder suspect said his older cousin was responsible for the injuries Fragstein suffered.

According to Smith’s testimony, he and Mackrell went to the Conway Commons shopping center while his mother played Bingo nearby. While driving through the parking lot the two smoked marijuana.

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