On 12/21/14, at approximately 11:10 pm, officers with the Benton Police Department responded to a disturbance call in the area of Hiland Street. Upon their arrival they made contact with two individuals who had been involved in the disturbance. One of them, Caitlin Earnest (18 YOA) of Benton, was identified as a suspect who had been cited and released for Criminal Mischief that had occurred earlier the same date involving the same parties. Based on information and evidence obtained during the investigation, it was determined that Earnest made threats to cause serious bodily harm to victims related to the case.
Earnest was subsequently placed under arrest without incident and transported to the Saline County Detention Facility for processing. Earnest is charged with Terroristic Threatening 1st Degree, Intimidating a Witness, Retaliation Against a Witness, and Criminal Trespassing.
This is still an on-going investigation and additional charges could be forthcoming.
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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