Suspect arrested in Wal-Mart carjacking

Officers with Conway Police Department announced Thursday an arrest made in connection with a March 25 carjacking at Wal-Mart near Harkrider Street.

Victor Jermaine Smith, 17, was taken into Faulkner County custody Wednesday afternoon for suspected involvement in the kidnapping of a Greenbrier woman along with the subsequent theft of her car.

Pulaski County sheriff's deputies recovered the Toyota Camry in Jacksonville two days after the incident and officers with Jacksonville and Conway police departments have been seeking the men behind the crime ever since.

Smith has been charged with kidnapping, aggravated robbery and theft; and if convicted would be subject to enhanced punishment for engaging in a violent criminal group activity, officers said Thursday.

Detectives with both CPD and JPD have worked together in the investigation, and CPD Lt. Danny Moody said Thursday his department appreciates Pulaski County law enforcers' diligent help in the investigation.

"Even though this arrest has occurred, we will continue to investigate this incident, review evidence collected in the course of the investigation and we are relatively confident that additional arrests are pending," Moody wrote in a release.

The woman taken in the kidnapping was freed within an hour of her abduction after two men held a gun to her in the parking lot when she was returning from shopping at around 7:30 p.m., March 25. A Pulaski patrol deputy saw the woman's car traveling on Jacksonville Cutoff Road at 75 mph in a 35 mph zone two days later.

Officers with CPD received word that deputies had recovered the car in Jacksonville, and the owner of the residence where the car ended up told deputies he saw at least four men exit the vehicle and flee the scene before officers with Sherwood PD lent the use of their canine unit in canvassing the area.

The car's occupants weren't found that morning, however, and before the car was recovered, officers with North Little Rock Police Department say they received a shots fired call from an anonymous witness who reported the license plate number of the same stolen Camry, though suspects were gone upon NLRPD's arrival.

(Staff writer Daniel Doyle can be reached by e-mail at daniel.doyle@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1253)