On 9/7/14, at approximately 3:21 AM, officers with the Benton Police Department responded to Ditch Witch Equipment Rentals (19930 I-30) on report of an alarm going off at the business.
Officers arrived on-scene as suspects, later identified as Lee Smith (46 YOA) of Little Rock and Steven Cooley (45 YOA) of Little Rock, were leaving with a trailer and skid steer stolen from the business. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the suspects refused to stop and continued leading them on a slow speed pursuit onto I-30 towards Little Rock.
Officers with the Bryant Police Department assisted by deploying stop sticks on the suspect vehicle in an attempt to stop it. The vehicle was finally stopped on the South Service Road of I-30 near Baseline Road and both suspects were taken into custody without further incident. Further investigation revealed the vehicle they were using was stolen out of Little Rock.
Smith and Cooley are both charged with Theft of Property, Theft By Receiving, and Breaking or Entering. Additionally, Smith is an active parolee out of the Arkansas Department of Community Corrections.
The investigation is on-going, but anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to contact the Benton Police Department at 501-778-1171 or 501-315-TIPS. Individuals also may send an anonymous crime tip about this incident to CRIMES (274637) with the keyword BNPD in the body of the text or go to www.crimereports.com to leave a tip. A crime tip can also be submitted via the official Benton Police Department app found on ITunes and Google Play.
Any suspects listed are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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