FORT SMITH (KFSM) – A Fort Smith sex offender was convicted of kidnapping, rape and aggravated robbery on Monday (May 11), officials say.
Ardwin F. Sylvester, 37, was given three life sentences to run consecutively, according to court officials.
He was arrested in June 2014 after he forced a 54-year-old Van Buren woman into her car at gunpoint and kidnapped her. The incident took place in the Staples parking lot in the 5700 block of Rogers Avenue, police said.
The victim told authorities that the suspect drove her toward Mena, and while refueling at an EZ-Mart in Ashdown, he sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, while still at the gas station, the victim fled from the vehicle telling anyone that could hear her to call 911 because she had been kidnapped, according to police.
Sylvester sped off in her car and led Arkansas State Police on a chase. During the chase, Sylvester threw a semi-automatic handgun from the window. Following the pursuit, he was taken into custody, authorities said.
