A 23-year-old man arrested after a bomb scare at a pizza restaurant in Elkins on Saturday (Nov. 23) also was arrested a month earlier on suspicion of breaking into Razorback Stadium and stealing an oil candle, records show.
Dennis Ray Peek of Elkins pleaded not guilty on Nov. 22 before a Washington County magistrate to a felony charge of breaking or entering after authorities say he was unlawfully inside Razorback Stadium and “in control of a facilities golf cart.”
In searching him at the site, police said they found an oil candle on him that had been taken from the stadium. He admitted to officers he had consumed “multiple alcoholic beverages” before going into the stadium around 10:20 p.m. on Oct. 22, according to court papers.
Peek is seek to appear in Washington County Circuit on Jan. 16 on the charge related to the stadium incident, records show.
About a month after the stadium arrest, Peek was arrested again on Saturday (Nov. 23) after authorities say he left a suspicious backpack at Pizza Junction in Elkins. The restaurant was evacuated in the afternoon bomb scare, according to court papers.
Restaurant employees told police a man wearing orange motorcycle pants and a green coat had been inside asking strange questions, according to court documents. He left the store and then drove off on what had sounded like a four-wheeler, tossing a blue-and-gray backpack near the Pizza Junction’s front door, court documents state. He soon returned to the site and told police under questioning that he had thrown the backpack, adding that it contained a helmet.
Peek is being held in the Washington County Detention Center on a $6,500 bond, facing seven misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct and communicating false alarm.
The Bentonville Bomb Squad was called to pizza restaurant in the bomb scare. Crews examined the backpack and discovered no bomb, authorities said.
