Press Release from Chief Kristi Bennett, Hot Springs Village Police Department, January 5, 2024, Hot Springs Village, AR
On January 2, 2024, at 9:50 p.m., the Hot Springs Village Police Department located a white Cadillac Escalade being driven erratically on the roadway. The officer initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle at the intersection of Fresno and Meseta Place. From that stop, it was determined that a possible incendiary device was in the vehicle, along with a small amount of marijuana, weapons, and a firearm. Subsequently, officers contacted the Arkansas State Police Bomb Squad, who additionally contacted the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division (ATF), a federal agency. All agencies responded to a residence on Medina Way, where the vehicle had been located. The incendiary device was safely disposed of, with no citizens in immediate danger.
HSVPD made contact with several individuals inside the residence, none of whom were owners of the property.
One of the individuals, Derrick Spicer, 43, was arrested for an outstanding warrant and charged with obstruction of governmental operations. In addition, detectives determined Spicer was an unregistered sex offender out of Louisiana and Kansas. A warrant was obtained and served on Spicer for failure to register as a sex offender, a Class C felony.
A female, Heather Hensley, 33, was arrested on a warrant for failure to comply.
Two additional individuals, a male and a female, were banned from the Village for criminal trespassing.
The driver of the vehicle from the initial traffic stop is pending federal charges from the ATF.
HSVPD attempted to contact the homeowner without success. It should be noted we have a longstanding history of 911 calls to this residence and a significant number of calls relating to this address.
The Hot Springs Village Police Department will continue to be diligent in enforcing all criminal law violations with Hot Springs Village.
General manager Kelly Hale said, “Just as a reminder, anyone allowing an individual to come inside the village to your residence will be held accountable by the HSVPD and the POA, as they are your guests, and you will accept responsibility for their actions.”
Images are for illustrative purposes only.
Click here to visit the Hot Springs Village POA Facebook Page.
Click here to visit the Explore the Village website.
The people involved in the traffic stop were not allowed to be at the home to begin with. Thank you for making it seem as though the 2 people arrested THE NEXT DAY were associated with the people in the vehicle. They were not. Spicer was arrested on a warrant from 2009 in Kansas, and Hensley was arrested on a clerical error regarding unpaid fines from a MMJ charge during her last round of chemo. Even with a medical card, she was ticketed when she unknowingly crossed into federal jurisdiction at three sisters.
THANKS CHERYL, AND THANKS TO OUR GM AND POLICE.
After a second violation in a rented unit, the privileges of renting, ab&b or anything other than the actual owner living there should be revoked. The criminal and disorderly element here is getting worse and no one seems to be wanting to be blamed for their property and their renters. Sure it’s nice to have these properties but when the owner doesn’t live here and the depending on an outside middleman to oversee the rental then the POA needs to step-in and revoked the privilege for the safety of our residents.
If your friends or relatives do drugs ,drink heavily or make bombs, tell,them to stay home.
We all moved here to get away from that kind of foolishness!
Get that… the POA now declares that you are responsible for your guest’s traffic violation, drug habits (known or unknown), or anything else that they do. State and Federal Laws be dammed. Moronic.
And as far as your assertion of “now declares,” this is nothing new. The verbiage of “members are responsible for the conduct and actions of their guests,” or something similar has been in the Rules and Regulations for quite a while now. I did not research it fully, but I do know that it is stated the same in the May 2018 edition of the Rules and Regulations. I did not look back any further than 2018.
In addition, this is not an uncommon rule in HOAs/POAs. According to HOALeader.com, which is a practical guide to homeowner association management, “”Owners are responsible for their guests’ and their renters’ damage to the HOA’s property, so it all begins with unit owners. That goes back to that legal relationship between the unit owner and the association. The guest has no legal obligation to the association at all.”
The vast majority of residents do not want the criminal element in the Village. Many moved here for safety and peace.
– Cheryl
I doubt that an owner can even be held legally responsible for the guest’s obeyance of POA rules.
But it’s one thing to say that owners are responsible for their guest obeying POA rules, it’s quite another to say that owners are responsible for another person’s criminal behavior. They aren’t even on the same scale.
Thank you, HSVPD . You do a wonderful job .
Thanks, Hot Springs Village PD for the professional way in which this was handled; in addition to other recent issues in which you interacted with other agencies to protect our village. And thanks also to Kelly Hale for your very appropriate statement. Although we’ve never met, I’ve got to say that there are two people I dread the retirement of: one is you, and the other is Dave Van Horn. Once again, thanks
That’s the street my family lives on. Please post the address of this criminal activity. We have a grandchild living near there.
Kudos to our Police Department