LITTLE ROCK — Three men were arrested early Friday in the robberies of hotels and a convenience store in Conway and Maumelle.
Savaunte K. Scott, 18, of Little Rock, Dexter Xavier Hooks, 20, of Jacksonville and Benjamin Martin Clark, 17, of Little Rock, were arrested Friday and charged with aggravated robbery, theft of property and in concert with two or more to commit a violent crime, according to the police reports.
Scott also was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
They were taken to the Pulaski County jail, where they were being held without bail.
About 3:10 a.m., Maumelle officers responded to a report of a robbery at the Holiday Inn Express, 200 Holiday Drive.
The clerk told police a black man wearing a blue sweatshirt and a black ski mask entered, pointed a pistol at the clerk and asked for money, the report said. The clerk didn’t believe the man, who then cocked the gun and told the employee, “Do you think I’m playing,” police said.
The clerk placed the money on the counter, and the man asked, “Where’s the rest?” After the clerk said there wasn’t anymore money, the man stumbled into the doors and ran out, police said. The clerk was not injured.
Officers learned two businesses in Conway had been robbed earlier that morning, and three people had driven away in a Dodge Charger.
North Little Rock officers spotted a car matching the description of the one in the Conway area and stopped it on Broadway near Verizon Arena. They took the three men to the Maumelle Police Department.
Hooks told a Maumelle police detective he was riding in the car, but would not say anything else, the report said. Scott told the detective he drove the car, which was his, but that Clark went inside each hotel and robbed the businesses, the report said.
Authorities have impounded the car and have recovered a 9mm pistol, $629 and a ski mask, reports show.
The men also face two charges of aggravated robbery in Faulkner County, the report said. An America’s Best Value Inn and Suites at 815 E. Oak St. and a Mapco convenience store at 545 Dave Ward Drive in Conway were robbed earlier Friday morning, Conway police said.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 11/17/2012