Police busy in West Memphis over last week

Domestic violence, shootings keeping investigators engaged

news@theeveningtimes.com Two incidents involving gunplay and one kidnapping marked the West Memphis Police crime blotter over the last ten days. Captain Troy Galtelli provided details on the three events.

A routine traffic stop netted a wanted felon on April 10. Police arrested Ben Perkins after checking his driver’s license, and discovered his active felony warrants for Kidnapping, First Degree False Imprisonment and Second Degree Domestic Battery. The charges stemmed for an incident reported on April 3 from the emergency room at the local hospital.

'Officers responded to a call to Baptist Memorial Hospital where a female victim advised that she was battered by her boyfriend,' said Galtelli. 'The victim had extensive bruising and swelling to her face and eyes and lacerations on her arms and hands. The victim was subsequently transferred to Regional One due to the extent of her injuries.'

In a separate incident, officers responded to a 'shots fired' call at South Grove Street and Walker Street that occurred on April 11.

Upon arrival, police found a shot-up unoccupied vehicle at the intersection of Walker and Tyler.

Detectives identified the driver of the vehicle and interviewed him. He had suffered minor injuries from the incident and was treated and released from the hospital. Detectives

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Ben Perkins POLICE (cont.)

continued actively searching for and speaking with witnesses to gain additional information about this incident, but no suspects have been identified at this time.

Shots rang out again in the city on April 15, this time in the employee parking lot at Southland Casino.

Officers chased and apprehended three men fleeing on foot from the area.

Galtelli provided an updated status.

'West Memphis police officers detained the subjects and made contact with Southland Gaming Security officers to review video footage of the incident,' said Galtelli. 'From the video, it was determined that the individuals that were currently being detained were the ones that were shooting at a vehicle in the parking lot. There were no injuries sustained to any persons from this incident. West Memphis Detectives are working in close contact with security at Southland Gaming on this incident and it’s still being actively investigated.'