A Jonesboro man was arrested Saturday morning after police responded to a report of theft at a Ruston store.
Brandal Hollingsworth, 50, of Jonesboro, was arrested at 10:18 a.m. Oct. 24 by the Ruston Police Department at South Monroe and Jones streets.
According to an arrest affidavit, an officer was dispatched at about 10:05 a.m. to the store on South Monroe Street. A caller reported seeing a man carrying a blue bag walk down Jones Street, approach a white truck, remove items from the bag and continue walking.
The officer found a man matching the description and questioned him about the items reportedly taken from the store. Hollingsworth denied taking anything and said he approached the people in the white vehicle to ask for a cigarette, the affidavit states.
The officer patted Hollingsworth down, placed him in the back of a patrol unit and located the white vehicle on John Street. A woman in the vehicle said she had given Hollingsworth $20 in exchange for the items in his bag. She surrendered the items and asked that her money be returned.
The officer then told Hollingsworth he was under arrest and read him his rights.
A store manager said Hollingsworth also entered the store at about 8 p.m. Oct. 23, and she suspected he was stealing but could not catch him. She said surveillance showed he entered the store at about 10:02 a.m. Oct. 24 and left through the front door about a minute later with a bag over his shoulder. The items were valued at $44.40.
Hollingsworth was booked on charges of criminal trespass and theft.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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