Hot Springs intruder gets 10 years

Woman is second person convicted in hotel-room burglary

HOT SPRINGS -- The second of four suspects arrested earlier this year in a hotel-room intrusion was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday.

Autumn Dean Polston, 27, of Hot Springs, appeared in Garland County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to a felony count of residential burglary, amended from the original charge of aggravated residential burglary, and misdemeanor third-degree battery.

Polston also pleaded guilty to being a habitual offender, having been convicted June 25, 2013, of possession of a controlled substance, meth, and convicted again July 31, 2015, of possession of a firearm by certain persons and possession of drug paraphernalia. Court costs were expunged for time served since her arrest.

An accomplice, Bobby Jack Smith, 30, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty Nov. 20 in Circuit Court to an amended charge of residential burglary and was sentenced to five years' supervised probation, fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $420 in court costs.

Two others, Brandon Nathaniel Folsom, 31, and Jakota Rustin Clay, 29, each face an amended felony charge of residential burglary and a misdemeanor count of third-degree battery. Folsom was to stand trial Dec. 7, but the case was continued and he is now scheduled to stand trial Feb. 22. Clay is set to stand trial Jan. 10.

According to the affidavits in the case, shortly before 11:30 p.m. May 9, Hot Springs police officer Richard Nunez was in the area of the Econo Lodge looking for a wanted person, identified as Clay, when he saw several people randomly banging on doors and windows of the motel rooms. He saw some of them enter one room after the occupant opened the door and then heard a single gunshot and saw the people "run out of the room."

Several people had forced their way into a room occupied by a Newark, Texas, man, 59, and his wife, 58, according to an affidavit. The Texas man had answered the door armed with a handgun, and he fired one shot after being knocked to the floor. The bullet hit Folsom in the torso, exited Folsom's body and struck Smith in the upper chest and shoulder, the affidavits said.

Officers apprehended Clay after a short foot pursuit. Smith was located near the 400 block of West Grand and transported by LifeNet to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs. Police determined that Folsom and Polston had gone to CHI St. Vincent by private vehicle. Smith was arrested May 10, and Folsom was arrested May 19 after his release from the hospital.

The Texas man told police that he and his wife heard someone banging on their hotel room door and, not knowing who it could be, he answered the door armed with his .22-caliber derringer-style handgun.

He said that as he opened the door Folsom hit him in the face, causing him to fall backward. The Texan told police he fired one shot that struck Folsom, causing him to double over, and then all three men fled the room, leaving Polston behind, according to the affidavit. She was pulled from the room by a second female, who was later questioned by police but not charged.

When questioned by police, Polston claimed she was robbed shortly before the incident by an unidentified person who she believed was staying in the room occupied by the Texans. She said she, Clay, Folsom and Smith left her room at the hotel and walked over to the Texans' room to confront and "beat the a** " of the person who robbed her.

She told police one of the men knocked on the door, and when a man answered one of the men hit him. She said she then heard a gunshot and fled.

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State Desk on 12/16/2017

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