A Fayetteville man began serving his prison sentence Wednesday night for his role in an armed home burglary, in which one of the suspects allegedly wore a Spider-Man mask.
Eugene Wimberly was transported to the Washington County Detention Center on Wednesday to begin preparing to serve a 20-year Arkansas prison sentence. He pleaded guilty in October to charges of aggravated robbery, theft of property and three drug charges. Seven years of his sentence are suspended, according to court documents.
Police arrested Wimberly and an accomplice, Julius Watson, in January in connection with an armed burglary of a Fayetteville home. Watson pleaded guilty to similar charges as Wimberly and was sentenced in October to 20 years in prison, with six years suspended, according to court documents.
A third man was arrested in March after police said he scoped out the Fayetteville home for Watson and Wimberly before the burglary. He pleaded guilty in August to aggravated robbery and residential burglary, receiving a sentence of 120 days in jail, according to court records.
Police responded to a burglary call at a Lewis Avenue home Jan. 5. A resident of the home told police two black men entered the home with a handgun. The home invaders told the resident to lie down, while one of the suspects stole $7 from the man’s wallet, according to a preliminary report from the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office.
The suspects then asked a resident the location of some marijuana the suspects believed was in the home, police said. The man told police one of the suspects threatened to shoot him in the leg if he did not give them drugs and money, the preliminary report states. The invaders then left the scene, the man told police.
A witness later contacted police to say that Watson and Wimberly were involved in the burglary. A confidential informant, using local Drug Task Force money, bought allegedly stolen property from Watson and Wimberly, police said.
The burglary victim positively identified the property as belonging to him, according to the preliminary report.
The Drug Task Force had been carrying out a drug investigation of Watson and Wimberly over the previous two months. During that time period, a confidential informant was able to buy 46 grams of marijuana from the suspects while wearing an audio-recording device, police said.
While raiding the suspects’ home, police found 71 grams of marijuana, two digital scales and plastic baggies. They also found a Spider-Man mask allegedly worn by one of the suspects during the burglary on Lewis Avenue.
