A Crime Stoppers tip has identified a man believed to be a person of interest in the robbing and beating of an elderly man last month in Fort Smith.
“Wasn’t long once those photographs were put out that the tip was received,” said Patricia Sullivan, administrative support officer with the Fort Smith Police Department.
The man was identified as Raymond Charles Hershel, according to police. Lead Investigator Detective Adam Creek found that Hershel was wanted on a felony Parole Violation warrant and was able to determine that Hershel was in the Kansas City, Kansas area, police said.
The investigation revealed a possible address for Hershel and he was taken into
custody by the US Marshals Service for the parole violation.
Fort Smith officers will travel to Kansas City to interview him about the Sept. 14 beating and robbery in Fort Smith.
Hershel was captured on surveillance cameras exchanging $100 in quarters at a Coin-Star machine at a local Walmart the day after the incident, according to police.
An 83-year-old employee of the car wash located on the corner of North 46th and Grand Avenue, was robbed and severely beaten, according to a police report. The suspect then took cash and quarters from the money changer at the car wash, investigators say.
“He was in bad shape. They tried to kill him. Whoever it was tried to kill him,” said Eugene Price, an eyewitness who helped the victim. “Whoever it is deserves what the police give them.”
The suspect was driving a stolen 2002 Chevrolet at the time, but it was later found abandoned near North 46th and Kinkead.
