A man police say is responsible for a wave of crime for Hot Springs to Missouri has been officially charged in Garland County. Derrick Estell, 33, was charged Monday with aggravated robbery, theft by receiving, fleeing, and possession of a firearm by certain persons.
Estell is accused of robbing a Hot Springs break last Thursday, then led police on a manhunt, and later a standoff.
The Sentinel-Record reports Monday's charges are in addition to felony charges Estell already faces from Thursday that include leaving the scene of an injury accident, fleeing by vehicle, first-degree criminal mischief, residential burglary, aggravated robbery and theft of property more than $5,000 and misdemeanor charges.
He was on parole from a 2010 conviction on multiple felonies. He is set to appear in court for his latest set of charges in on March 26 in Garland County District Court.
Garland County Sheriff's Sgt. Joel Ware had said Thursday Estell was a "person of interest" in the robbery of the Hot Springs Bank and Trust, 4579 Highway 7 north, that occurred shortly after 5 p.m. on March 1, and they were finally able to make all the connections to file the charge.
Ware said they were also looking at Estell in connection with some commercial burglaries and other vehicle thefts and were working with the FBI and talking with the U.S. Attorney's office about having a federal indictment filed against Estell for the bank robbery.
"We're looking at him pretty hard for a lot of other things," Ware told the Sentinel-Record. "Just about everything that has happened to us in the last few months that has been major can be connected to him.
Ware said Estell was reportedly in a standoff in Springfield, Mo., before coming to Arkansas in which he had held his girlfriend at gunpoint, but was able to escape from authorities there. "He's basically been on a crime wave between here and Springfield and just been a nuisance to everybody," Ware said.
Derrick Estell
