One arrested, two sought in attempted gas station robbery

One man is in custody and arrest warrants have been issued for two others in connection to a brash burglary that caused significant damage to a local convenience store during the early morning hours of Valentine's Day.

Deaundre M. Elam, 30, of Houston, is being held in the Union County jail on several felony charges, including commercial burglary, breaking or entering, engaging in violent group criminal activity, two counts of theft of property and first-degree criminal mischief.

El Dorado police are searching for two other men who are believed to have been involved in the incident at Murphy USA, 2720 N. West Ave.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Jeremiah Reece, 23, also of Houston, and Javon Q. Hoye, 20, of Madison, Mississippi.

Reece, Hoye and Elam all face similar charges.

The three men are accused of stealing two vans on Feb. 14 and using one of the vans to ram into the Murphy USA convenience store in an apparent attempt to steal an ATM.

At approximately 2:38 p.m., officers responded to a report of a van "repeatedly running into the building" at the MUSA store.

Upon arrival, officers saw that the north entrance was "smashed in", an ATM was laying on the ground and several store racks and merchandise were strewn near the doorway.

Surveillance video from the convenience store showed a white van backing up to the north entrance of the store and a male exiting through the rear door of the van, police said.

The suspect was described as a black male who appeared to be wearing a black hoodie, pants, shoes, a do-rag and white shirt underneath the hoodie.

Police said the van repeatedly rammed the store's entrance, crushing in the door frame and shattering the windows.

They noted that the suspects did not enter the store. The van then left the scene moments later through the north egress.

The suspect trailed after the van on foot, heading west toward the Walmart Supercenter parking lot, which is adjacent to the convenience store, police said.

A short time later, officers recovered the van, which had been abandoned behind Walmart.

They said the van had substantial damage and the ignition had been punched, meaning that the suspects stole the van without using a key.

Police said the van had been stolen from South Arkansas Community College.

Surveillance video from the Murphy USA store showed the van pulling up to the business at 2:32 p.m. and leaving a short time later.

The suspect who had exited the van was also captured on surveillance video running down a hill toward Walmart and then turning toward a wooded area before disappearing behind a semi-truck that was parked on the south end of the Walmart parking lot.

Witnesses reported hearing the van crash into the Murphy USA store and seeing the van leave scene and a male wearing a black hoodie running toward Walmart Supercenter.

While canvassing the area, police said they found evidence indicating that someone had recently been near a creek next to the area where the semi-truck was parked.

A second white van was found abandoned in the middle of the road in the area of Hathaway Drive and North West Avenue.

Police said the engine was running and the ignition had been punched, noting that the van was facing east on Hathaway.

Officers said the van had been stolen from M&A Wrecker Service.

Just before 5 a.m., officers reported seeing a man walking south on North West Avenue near Oak Street.

Police said he was wearing clothing that matched the description of the suspect who was seen on surveillance video footage from Murphy USA and Walmart Supercenter.

They noted that the man, later identified as Elam, was wearing a white t-shirt over a black hoodie.

His pants and shoes were muddy, his pants were torn and covered with pine straw and he was "soaking wet", police said.

Elam told officers that he and his girlfriend had gotten into a fight.

When asked for more information about his "girlfriend", Elam hesitated before providing officers with a first name. Police said he did not provide any further details.

Elam was taken into custody and hours later, he appeared in 35th Judicial District Court. He was issued a bond of $150,000.

Due to a lack of space in the Union County jail, Elam was transported to the Dallas County jail and was held there until he was transferred back to the Union County jail late Wednesday afternoon.

He remained jailed Thursday evening.

Capt. Scott Harwell of the El Dorado Police Department's Criminal Investigative Division said Elam could face additional charges.

Harwell said Hoye and Reece were developed as suspects in the ongoing investigation and detectives subsequently obtained warrants for their arrests.

Harwell said officers have not yet determined if the trio has any ties to El Dorado or how long they had been in the city prior to the burglary.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Hoye and Reece is encouraged to call EPD investigators at 870-881-8810 or Crime Stoppers at 870-863-4636 (INFO).

Reece and Hoye are described as black males with brown eyes and black hair.

Reece is 5 feet 10 inches tall and 178 pounds with black hair and brown eyes and Hoye is 6 feet 1 inch tall and 140 pounds.

photo Elam
photo Haye
photo Reese

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