Trio wanted for FELONY ORGANIZED RETAIL THEFT crash Dodge Charger during high speed pursuit by ASP

Hot Springs police were dispatched to Walmart, 1601 Albert Pike Road, regarding a theft that had just occurred. The store's loss prevention personnel reported a large quantity of merchandise had been stolen by three suspects, described as one Black female and two Black males, who were reportedly seen loading the stolen items into a black Dodge Charger before fleeing the scene in the vehicle. Officers located the Charger in the vicinity and attempted to make a traffic stop, but the vehicle fled eastbound on the King Expressway. Arkansas State Police were notified and assisted in locating the vehicle again, which continued to flee with state police in pursuit. The Charger eventually lost control and crashed on the expressway, and HSPD and ASP officers located the passengers, identified as Jackson and Berry, in the vehicle and detained them. The driver, Hampton, fled the scene on foot but was apprehended by state police a short time later. A search of the vehicle revealed the merchandise reportedly stolen from Walmart. Loss prevention arrived at the scene and took possession of the recovered items, whose total value was determined to be $3,044.01. HSPD Detectives Shawn Woodall and James Yerina conducted interviews with Hampton and Berry after reading them their rights. Both suspects allegedly admitted to knowingly stealing the items from Walmart, stating their intention was to resell the merchandise "either on social media or in person." They further allegedly admitted to recently stealing items from the Walmart at 3604 Highway 7 north outside Hot Springs Village, as well as from other locations. During the investigation, officers recovered a receipt from the Hot Springs Village Walmart inside the suspect vehicle, indicating a visit to that store at approximately 1:56 p.m. that same day. Kevonta Kenterios Hampton, 25, of West Helena, and Karli Fayth Berry, 23, and Malachi Thomas Jackson, 22, both of Jacksonville, were taken into custody around 3:30 p.m. and each charged with felony counts of organized retail theft and theft of property over $1,000, each punishable by up to six years in prison. Hampton, who was allegedly driving, was also charged with felony fleeing, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and second-degree criminal mischief, punishable by up to six years, and misdemeanor counts of no liability insurance, fictitious tags and fleeing on foot. Hampton and Jackson were later released on bond, but Berry remained in custody on a zero-bond hold out of Jackson County and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court. According to court records, Hampton was previously convicted of residential burglary in 2019 in Pulaski County and sentenced to five years' supervised probation; and in 2020 of breaking or entering in Saline County and sentenced to three years' probation. Jackson was previously convicted in 2023 of felony fleeing and sentenced to three years' probation. Berry was convicted in 2021 in Pulaski County of three counts of felony theft of property and sentenced to four years' supervised probation while three counts of robbery were withdrawn; in 2022 in Faulkner County of two felony counts of theft of property and sentenced to four years' probation; and she has a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia pending from an arrest in Jackson County on July 20 of this year. According to the Trooper's report, he approached the vehicle on the driver’s side, where the driver, later identified as Kevonta Hampton briefly rolled the driver’s window down before immediately rolling it back up. The Trooper attempted to open the driver’s door but was unable to do so. The driver then accelerated rapidly, fleeing eastbound on the MLK Bypass. The Charger exited at Highway 70 East where the driver swerved erratically across the roadway, completing a 360-degree spin after striking the guardrail.