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Police: Fort Smith Man Beaten, Robbed After Casino Win

FORT SMITH (KFSM)- Three women are facing charges and police are seeking a fourth suspect in connection to the beating and robbery of a man, according to a rele...
fort smith aggravated robbery suspects

FORT SMITH (KFSM)- Three women are facing charges and police are seeking a fourth suspect in connection to the beating and robbery of a man, according to a release from the Fort Smith Police Department.

According to police, the aggravated robbery happened on December 2, 2014 after Rajesh Ballash, 49, won a small jackpot at the Choctaw Casino in Pocola, Okla. Ballash told police a woman approached him at the casino and invited him to her house, the release states. He left the house with the woman, as well as two other women and a man, in a black SUV, according to police.

Ballash said the group stopped in a church parking lot in the 4000 block of S. 18th Street where all four suspects began beating him, according to the release. The victim told police the man stabbed him in the abdomen, then the suspects took his wallet and cell phone and left him in the parking lot, the release states.

Police: Fort Smith Man Beaten, Robbed After Casino Win
Police: Fort Smith Man Beaten, Robbed After Casino Win
Police: Fort Smith Man Beaten, Robbed After Casino Win

According to police, parole officers in Oklahoma used casino surveillance footage to identify one of the female suspects as Brenda Corley, 46, who was interviewed and arrested on charges of aggravated robbery and parole violation. Corley then identified the other two female suspects as Kimberly Martindale, 34, and Evelynn Woodward, 26, who were also found and interviewed, according to the release.

The women identified the male suspect as 35-year-old Michael Eugene Smith, a parolee out of Texarkana, Ark., according to police.

Police said they arrested Martindale on a charge of aggravated robbery and Woodward on charges of aggravated robbery and parole violation.

Anyone with information about Michael Eugene Smith or his whereabouts should call the Fort Smith Police Department at (479) 709-5100 or call River Valley Crimestoppers at 78-CRIME.

Police: Fort Smith Man Beaten, Robbed After Casino Win

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