MADISON COUNTY : Suspect in robbery sporadic policeman
Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The man suspected in a bank robbery in Hindsville worked for police departments in Springdale and Huntsville and pleaded guilty to bank larceny in 2005.
Donald Lee Stevens, 33, was a Springdale officer from June 1999 to June 2000 and again from September 2000 to September 2001. Prior to his employment in Springdale, Stevens worked as a patrolman in Huntsville from October 1996 to May 1997, city records show.
Stevens and a 45-year-old woman were arrested Monday after the robbery. Stevens was on probation for a 2004 case where he initially was charged with commercial burglary, theft, and breaking and entering for using keys and pass codes to plunder several Arvest bank machines in Springdale.
His case was transferred to U. S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, where in 2005 he pleaded guilty to one count of bank larceny, court records show.
In April 2005 he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Stevens, an Arvest security agent at the time of the thefts, also was ordered to pay more than $ 140, 000 in restitution.
Springdale police spokesman Shane Pegram said Stevens left the department the first time to take another job. His second resignation was so he could take the security job at Arvest.
On Tuesday, Stevens and Natalie Abbott, both of Jacksonville, appeared in Madison County Circuit Court in Huntsville for the Hindsville robbery, where Circuit Judge William Storey set a $ 250, 000 bond for both of them.
They are being held in the Washington County jail in Fayetteville.
If the case remains in state court, Stevens and Abbott face charges of aggravated robbery, theft and commercial burglary, Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Allred said. Aggravated robbery, the most serious charge, carries a sentence of 10 to 40 years, or life, in prison.
Witnesses said Stevens and Abbott, both wearing masks, entered the Arvest branch in Hindsville about 10: 20 a.m. and ordered employees to the floor. Abbott brandished a small pistol, police said.
The robbers locked employees in the vault before fleeing. They were apprehended by Arkansas State Police in Franklin County north of Ozark about 12: 30 p.m.
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