Update: LR Man Arrested after Police Catch Him with Truckload of Stolen Meat
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: November 29, 2012
Update (2:00 p.m.):
Little Rock Police have charged a local man with theft of property after tying him to a stolen trailer filled with more than $40,000 in hams and hot dogs.
Robert Lee, 39, was caught this morning, along with another man, as they removed boxes of meat from the back of the trailer parked on an empty lot off Chicot Road. Lee had claimed the trailer was his, police said, but had no paperwork to prove it.
After police found paperwork inside the trailer, they called a food company in Virginia who told them the load was theirs. A spokesman with Smithfield Foods told officers the load had been picked up November 13 in South Carolina and was to be delivered in Miami two days later.
After finding out the load was stolen, police arrested Lee.
Police say it wasn't clear who owned the trailer, so it was impounded.
Original story (11:45 a.m.):
A man driving an allegedly stolen truck loaded with hams is being questioned by police in Little Rock.
Police say Robert Lee, 39, of Little Rock, picked up the load in South Carolina and was supposed to deliver it to Miami.
The truck was found this morning on the southwest side of town, near a business at Chicot Road and Baseline Road. Investigators with the Arkansas Highway Police and the Department of Health were on the scene at last report.
According to police, Lee had been arrested Tuesday after calling police to his home to report the theft of the truck. While he told officers he had been jumped by a group of people, police say he had no injuries.
Lee reportedly became angry and started running around while shouting profanities at officers, who suspected he was under the influence of drugs.
He was arrested after a struggle with officers during which he had to be subdued with pepper spray. Lee was charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and attempt to influence a public servant.
Police say Lee is also a suspect in an assault that happened earlier Tuesday on Wright Avenue. In that incident, police were called after a man sitting in a car reported that a tractor trailer truck driven by Lee had hit his vehicle, pushing it into a building. The man said Lee then drove off. The man told officers he and Lee had argued earlier in the day and believed he was trying to kill him.
Police checked the area looking for the tractor trailer truck and found it nearby on Adams Street but there was no one inside.
Lee is facing aggravated assault and criminal mischief charges in that incident.
Little Rock Police have charged a local man with theft of property after tying him to a stolen trailer filled with more than $40,000 in hams and hot dogs.
Robert Lee, 39, was caught this morning, along with another man, as they removed boxes of meat from the back of the trailer parked on an empty lot off Chicot Road. Lee had claimed the trailer was his, police said, but had no paperwork to prove it.
After police found paperwork inside the trailer, they called a food company in Virginia who told them the load was theirs. A spokesman with Smithfield Foods told officers the load had been picked up November 13 in South Carolina and was to be delivered in Miami two days later.
After finding out the load was stolen, police arrested Lee.
Police say it wasn't clear who owned the trailer, so it was impounded.
Original story (11:45 a.m.):
A man driving an allegedly stolen truck loaded with hams is being questioned by police in Little Rock.
Police say Robert Lee, 39, of Little Rock, picked up the load in South Carolina and was supposed to deliver it to Miami.
The truck was found this morning on the southwest side of town, near a business at Chicot Road and Baseline Road. Investigators with the Arkansas Highway Police and the Department of Health were on the scene at last report.
According to police, Lee had been arrested Tuesday after calling police to his home to report the theft of the truck. While he told officers he had been jumped by a group of people, police say he had no injuries.
Lee reportedly became angry and started running around while shouting profanities at officers, who suspected he was under the influence of drugs.
He was arrested after a struggle with officers during which he had to be subdued with pepper spray. Lee was charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and attempt to influence a public servant.
Police say Lee is also a suspect in an assault that happened earlier Tuesday on Wright Avenue. In that incident, police were called after a man sitting in a car reported that a tractor trailer truck driven by Lee had hit his vehicle, pushing it into a building. The man said Lee then drove off. The man told officers he and Lee had argued earlier in the day and believed he was trying to kill him.
Police checked the area looking for the tractor trailer truck and found it nearby on Adams Street but there was no one inside.
Lee is facing aggravated assault and criminal mischief charges in that incident.
