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TEEN TO BE CHARGED AS ADULT IN SHOOTING INCIDENT

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, November 7, 2009 12:33 AM CST

A Pine Bluff teenager who allegedly fired shots at a parked vehicle early Thursday morning will be charged as an adult with committing a terroristic act and criminal mischief after a court hearing Friday.

Circuit Judge Rob Wyatt Jr. ruled prosecutors had probable cause to charge Robert Neal, 17, with 13 counts of committing a terroristic act, one for each of the shell casings found at the scene, and one count of felony criminal mischief because of damage to the vehicle, a 1995 Ford van.

Deputy Prosecutor Cymber Gieringer said there were two people in the van at the time of the shooting, but neither of them were injured.

Although Neal had been arrested for attempted murder, Gieringer said prosecutors were not seeking probable cause on that at this time until they can determine if the people in the van could be seen from outside the vehicle, or if the persons who fired the shots knew the van was occupied.

She said the incident began Wednesday at about 7 p.m. when Kevin Rauls told police his vehicle had been stolen at gunpoint, and there were several shots fired during the incident.

Five hours later, at about 2 a.m. Thursday, police were sent to 901 W. 34th Ave., Rauls’ residence, in response to a reported shooting.

Gieringer said Rauls’ mother, Lyndia Hartin, 42, and her boyfriend, Huey Davis, 61, had been sitting in the van in front of the house when Neal and several other suspects approached the vehicle and fired numerous rounds from a shotgun and three handguns at the van, causing $1,000 to $1,500 damage to the hood and the driver’s side tires, which were both shot out.

Police located and recovered five .45-caliber shell casings, five .32-caliber shell casings, two .22-caliber shell casings and one 12-gauge shotgun shell from the street during their investigation, Gieringer said.

A witness was able to get the license plate number of a car that the suspects left the area in, and Gieringer said police went to the address listed for the car, 1320 S. Cedar St., where Neal lived. Rauls had told officers he and Neal “had problems in the past.”

She said officers found the car the witness described, and saw a shotgun and several handguns in plain sight in the back seat. A set of keys that Rauls identified as belonging to his stolen car were found in the glove compartment, and officers also found electronic equipment that Rauls said came out of his vehicle.

Gieringer said detectives interviewed Neal with his mother present, and he claimed that a friend had asked him to hold the keys, and he had bought the electronic equipment.

Later, Neal reportedly told detectives “he lost it,” Gieringer said. “He said he had been shot at from a vehicle that looked like one Rauls’ mother drove so he got a shotgun and two .32-caliber handguns and got some of his friends to go to Rauls’ house.”

She said Neal claimed he drove the car to the house, but said he didn’t fire any shots and “didn’t know who did.”

Wyatt set a $50,000 cash-only bond for Neal, who Gieringer said had no prior convictions, and told him to come back to court Dec. 1. He also ordered Neal, who said he was a student at Watson Chapel High School, to have no contact with Rauls, Hartin or Davis until the case is settled.

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