Fordyce woman loses $850 to fake rental listing
A 64-year-old Fordyce woman told Sheridan police she lost $850 to a fake rental listing she found on Facebook while her son was looking for a place to live in Grant County, according to a report on a call Oct. 21.
The woman said she began messaging with the person who posted the listing on WhatsApp, filled out a renter’s application and sent $650, plus another $200 for a processing fee, in bitcoin.
She told the officer the person was supposed to meet her at a property on the 1100 block of North Arch Street but never showed up, and did not reply when she asked for a refund or for his location.
The officer wrote that police believe the name the person used was false and that the listing was a scam. The case remains open.
Divorced couple’s insurance check dispute documented
A Sheridan man reported Oct. 21 that his ex-wife took a $2,400 insurance check from his mail, according to a police report.
The man told an officer by phone that the two recently divorced and have a house on Fawn Trail, where he still lives, and that he had filed an insurance claim for repairs so the house could be sold and the proceeds split between them.
He said his former wife checked the mail at the house, opened mail addressed to him and took the check with her to East End. He said she had sent him text messages threatening to shred it.
The officer told the man he would file a report but that he would need to contact the Saline County Sheriff’s Office and ask for a deputy to help him retrieve the check.
The report says it is unknown whether the situation was resolved. No charges were listed.
82-year-old woman loses $1,000 in text-message scam
An 82-year-old woman went to Sheridan police Oct. 22 to report what she believed was a theft from her vehicle and fraud on her bank account, but the case turned out to be a scam, according to police reports.
She told an officer she believed her vehicle had been searched while she was at Walmart on the 1300 block of South Rock Street, that her bank cards appeared to be missing and that her bank showed an unauthorized charge of $1,003.74 at the Sheridan store.
A Walmart loss prevention associate looked up the transaction for the officer and found it was a $1,000 money transfer plus a $3.74 fee, made at 10:46 a.m. Surveillance video showed the woman making the purchase herself, with her bank card in her possession, the officer wrote.
When another officer met with her the next day, the woman said she had made the transaction herself and that no card had been stolen.
She said she had been scammed by unknown people who contacted her by text message and claimed to be from Apple.
Lonoke man arrested on domestic battering charge
A Lonoke man was arrested Oct. 26 on a misdemeanor charge of third-degree domestic battering after a woman told a Sheridan officer he assaulted her along Highway 35 and the Sheridan bypass, according to a police report.
The officer, dispatched shortly before 5 a.m. to a broken-down vehicle in the area, said Bradley Allan Hawks, 43, told him he had run out of gas and been in an accident.
The officer noticed the vehicle’s windshield appeared to have been kicked in.
Hawks said the keys were locked inside and that breaking in was the easiest way to get them, and that the vehicle belonged to his sister.
The officer gave Hawks a ride to a truck stop on the 1800 block of West Center Street to get gas.
An employee there waved the officer over to a woman who was visibly upset and crying in the office.
The woman, who identified Hawks as her boyfriend, told the officer the two had been arguing and that he had been physical with her since about 10 p.m. the night before, beginning in Little Rock.
She said that when they ran out of gas on the bypass she got out of the vehicle to get away from him, and that he slammed her against it, pulled her hair and punched her.
She said she got back in the vehicle for the keys, and that Hawks, angry, broke the windshield. She told the officer she got away from him and flagged down a trucker to take her to the truck stop. The report notes her complaint of pain from being thrown into a vehicle, bruises on her arms and a reddened mark on her neck.
Hawks was read his rights and agreed to talk with the officer.
He denied being physical with the woman and said the two had been trying to flag down vehicles to get gas, according to the report.
He was booked into the Sheridan Detention Center, and the vehicle was towed.
Photos of both people were taken, and the woman declined to give a written statement. Hawks is scheduled to appear in Grant County District Court on Dec. 8.
He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Pickup damages Sonic menu board, leaves scene
A green pickup truck damaged a menu board at the Sonic Drive-In on the 600 block of West Center Street the evening of Oct. 28 and drove off, according to a police report.
A witness told an officer the driver of a green, 1990s-model Ford pickup was having trouble backing out of a stall after ordering, and the truck’s right rear-view mirror caught the edge of the menu board on its pole.
The truck then accelerated, damaging the menu and tearing the mirror off the vehicle, the witness said, before speeding through the parking lot and leaving.
The officer searched around town but could not find the truck. The case is open.
Missing package resolved through FedEx
A Sheridan man reported Oct. 29 that an online order shown as delivered by FedEx could not be found at his home on the 100 block of East Church Street, according to a police report.
The item listed in the report was a Wi-Fi router.
The man told an officer the online vendor told him to file a police report. The officer advised him to contact FedEx and file a claim.
On Nov. 2, the man told the officer FedEx had resolved the issue and was reimbursing him. The report says no further police action was needed.
Little Rock woman arrested after stop in front of courthouse
A Little Rock woman was arrested the night of Oct. 30 after an officer stopped her car on West Center Street near Oak Street, in front of the Grant County Courthouse, for a defective headlight, according to a police report.
Amanda Noel, 49, told the officer she did not have a driver’s license and said it was suspended.
The officer wrote that his check through ACIC/NCIC confirmed her license was suspended for DWI and that she was required to have an ignition interlock device, which she said her vehicle did not have.
She was arrested on a misdemeanor charge listed as driving on a DWI-revoked license, and her vehicle was towed. Noel is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Editor’s Note: This article is compiled from incident reports obtained from the Sheridan Police Department. Information reflects the reporting officer’s account at the time the report was filed and may be incomplete or subject to change as investigations proceed. All suspects named in connection with an alleged crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Addresses are listed to the nearest block to protect the privacy of those involved. The Grant County Fire does not independently verify the contents of police reports beyond what is stated in the record.