A cleaning contractor from Conway faces felony charges in Southwest Arkansas after he stole from a Hostess bakery

arkadelphian.com

GUM SPRINGS, Arkansas — Hired to clean at the Hostess Brands plant, a thief wasn’t salivating over the Donettes produced there; rather, it was something with a bit more byte than a snack cake: perhaps an Apple computer?

Charles Edward Ferguson, 49, of Conway, faces felony theft charges in Arkadelphia for taking a Hostess-owned laptop computer from the plant.

According to court documents filed this week, Clark County sheriff’s Deputy Teddy Rocole was summoned to the bakery on Oct. 6 for a theft complaint. A Hostess employee said the theft was caught on security video and produced that evidence. The video showed Ferguson, a cleaner working for the Conway-based Elite Services, take a laptop valued at $1,200. Court records did not identify the laptop brand.

Asked about the theft, Ferguson admitted he had swiped the laptop, which he had since taken to his hotel room in Caddo Valley, an affidavit states. He was then taken into custody for theft charges and accompanied Rocole to the Super 8 hotel, where Ferguson retrieved the computer from a trash can in his room.

The affidavit notes that Ferguson has a “lengthy criminal history” including charges of theft and robbery.