Two Pine Bluff men arrested Monday will have to post $50,000 bonds to be released from the Jefferson County Adult Detention Center while prosecutors prepare felony charges against them.
Thaddeus Handley Jr., 22, and Malik Jenkins, 20, are both accused of the robbery of an individual in the early morning hours and taking the person’s vehicle.
According to a probable cause affidavit from Pine Bluff Police Department Detective Jeremy Oswalt, the alleged victim contacted police at 4:33 a.m. to report that he had taken his brother to an apartment complex at 3201 S. Fir St., and after the brother went into an apartment, he fell asleep while sitting in his 2009 Toyota Camry.
The man said he was awakened by two men who pulled him out of the vehicle, yelling at him. While he struggled, one of the men got behind the wheel of the vehicle and started driving away, striking the alleged victim in the process.
Oswalt reported that after a BOLO (Be On The Lookout) was broadcast for the vehicle, an officer traveling west on Harding Avenue spotted the blue Lexus and the Toyota traveling at high rates of speed. The vehicles stopped at a house in the 1100 block of Wisconsin Street, and a man later identified as Jenkins got out of the Lexus and into the Toyota, which traveled away on 8th Avenue.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Police attempted a traffic stop, but the driver fled on foot. Officers then went back to the house in the 1100 block of Wisconsin Street, where they learned that the Lexus belonged to Handley.
Officers went to Handley’s residence, an apartment in the 3300 block of Ridgway Road, where they also found Jenkins, who was identified by the officer that originally saw the two vehicles on Harding Avenue. The officer reported that Jenkins was driving the Lexus and Handley the Toyota.
Oswalt reported that when Handley was questioned, he allegedly said he did not know anything about the incident and had been home all night. Jenkins said he had driven the Lexus to the 1100 block of Wisconsin Street, but he did not know who had driven the Toyota and had no involvement in the incident.
Handley and Jenkins were ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim until the case is settled.