By Joel Phelps
The Arkadelphian

CADDO VALLEY — Local law enforcement made quick work Friday afternoon of a truck that had been reported stolen in Arkadelphia during broad daylight.

Ricky Allen Hice, 32, was arrested about 40 minutes after he allegedly drove away in a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck reported stolen by its owner.

According to Arkadelphia Police Chief Jason “Shorty” Jackson, police received a report at about 2:05 p.m. that the vehicle was stolen outside a residence on the 1000 block of Haddock Street. The reporting officer broadcast the information on police radio, and a Group 6 Narcotics agent who was in the Caddo Valley area stationed himself on Old Military Road.

The Group 6 agent located the stolen vehicle on that highway and began pursuit in an unmarked vehicle, catching up to the suspect north of the Caddo River bridge. Hice, of Hot Springs, reportedly pulled into a recently excavated lot behind the Super 8 and fled on foot prior to police catching up to him.

That’s when police from several different agencies set up a perimeter along Highway 67 in search of the suspect. A Caddo Valley officer apprehended Hice behind a residence near 67’s junction with Montgomery Drive.

“It all happened in less than 40 minutes from the time the vehicle was stolen until [Hice] was apprehended and the owner had his truck back,” Jackson said.

Jackson thanked all police agencies involved: Arkadelphia Police Department, Group 6 Narcotics, Caddo Valley Police Department, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas State Police, Henderson State University Police Department and Ouachita Baptist University Campus Police.

Hice remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center on police charges of theft. Formal charges are pending and will be determined by prosecutors.