Cameron Coleman, 23, was arrested for attempted aggravated robbery.
“He came running with the knife like this,” said Betty Carroll, of Fort Smith.
Just before 3 a.m., officers responded to a report of a robbery in progress at an ATM located in the 9000 block of Jenny Lind Road.
“It's something you're only supposed to see on tv,” said Carroll. “It's not supposed to happen to you.”
The victim told police that while she was attempting to get money from the ATM, a white man armed with a knife approached her vehicle and demanded she open the car door.
“I hit the door locks and was trying to get the windows up, and then he ran to the other window and then he was trying to get in all the doors and he was beating it and he was telling us let me in,” said Carroll.
Officers found Coleman standing at the rear of the victim’s vehicle and a kitchen knife on the ground. “This gentleman according to the officers reports I mean appeared to be under the influence of something that obviously affected his better judgment,” said Sgt. Daniel Grubbs, with the Fort Smith Police Department.
Carroll contacted the bank Wednesday and says she still has not gotten her money back. “It’s a lot of mixed reactions today,” she said. “It’s shock, hurt, pissed off.”
Coleman was taken to the Sebastian County Detention Center where he’s being held without bond.