On 9/20/15, at approximately 9:00 PM, an officer with the Benton Police Department was at an address on Hester St. investigating a stolen truck and a wanted suspect possibly being there.
Upon approaching the residence, the officer noticed the truck suddenly started backing up quickly towards him. The officer had to jump out of the trucks path and narrowly avoided being struck by it. As the vehicle drove beside the officer, he observed the suspect driving it and was able to identify him as Michael Schmall (28 YOA) of Benton. Schmall then fled from the scene at a high rate of speed.
Officers were able to locate Schmall again shortly afterwards and attempted to stop him, but he refused to stop. Schmall eventually went down Henry St. and crossed the Saline River before jumping from the vehicle and fleeing the area. Attempts to locate him were unsuccessful at the time.
It was later determined that Schmall was driving a stolen work truck that was taken during the commission of a commercial burglary at a local business on 8/27. There were stolen items located in the truck along with suspected Marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Schmall currently has active warrants out of BNPD for Aggravated Assault, Fleeing by Vehicle, Reckless Driving, Possession of a Controlled Substance, 3 counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Commercial Burglary, and Theft of Property. This is an on-going investigation and additional charges could be forthcoming.
Anyone with information about these crimes is encouraged to contact the Benton Police Department at 501-778-1171 or 501-315-TIPS. Individuals also may send us 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.
Follow BNPD on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Benton-Police-Department/221829174560849