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UPDATE: Convicted Drug Trafficker Is Back In Custody

FORT SMITH (KFSM) —  On Saturday (July 15) a fugitive wanted by U.S. Marshals is in custody at the Sebastian County Detention Center for aggravated assaul...
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FORT SMITH (KFSM) —  On Saturday (July 15) a fugitive wanted by U.S. Marshals is in custody at the Sebastian County Detention Center for aggravated assault and outstanding Federal warrants, according to Fort Smith Police Department.

On Sunday (July 16), Larry Dale Batt’s booking sheet was updated with additional charges:  One Felony and one Misdemeanor Possession of Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver, Felony possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Felony possession of Methamphetamine and Felony Fleeing.

Police said on Friday (July 14) evening the Fort Smith narcotics and vice unit were working undercover investigating  methamphetamine distribution.   During the process investigators learned Batt, 34, may be involved in selling drugs, but also discovered he was wanted by U.S. Marshals.

Batt was found at an apartment at the 4800 block of Rogers Avenue, but eluded the officers when he got into his car and took off.

Officers said they avoided getting hit as Batt drove toward them.  He hit a police car as the tried to flee, and he ran into another police car that was shielding a woman who was in a wheel chair.

A police pursuit ensued as Batt headed west on Rogers Avenue, but the chase was stopped after a short time.

Police later found the car Batt was driving a couple of miles away at the 3000 block of Boston Avenue and the vehicle was seized.

Investigators learned that Batt may be at a home a few miles south of where the car was left.  A home at the 8300 block of Colony Lane was placed under surveillance by police and they stopped a car they saw leave the residence.  The driver was identified to be Batt’s girlfriend, Tiffany Roberts, 28, according to police.  Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office Inmate Summary shows Roberts has been booked four other times.

UPDATE: Convicted Drug Trafficker Is Back In Custody

She was arrested on unrelated outstanding warrants, in addition for parole violation and five Felony drug-related charges.

Police also confirmed Batt was inside the home and that the person living there was on parole.

Parole and police officers entered the house and found Batt and another woman inside.  Both were arrested.

Batt was booked into the Sebastian County Detention Center on the charges of three counts of Aggravated Assault and outstanding Federal warrant(s).  It is possible additional charges may be added at a later time.  He’s being held on no bond.

In June, 2015, Batt was one of 11 people sentenced to prison for a combined total of nearly 50 years for drug trafficking, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas Conner Eldridge.

The release in part reads, “Batt, aka “Spooky”, age 32, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, was sentenced to twenty-one months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of Distribution of Methamphetamine.”

In November 2013, agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency learned that large quantities of methamphetamine were being distributed out of Fort Smith by a multi-state drug trafficking organization, according to court records.

During the investigation, agents made more than 10 controlled buys and executed at least five search warrants, Eldridge said. In total, nine pounds of meth were seized.

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