Detectives in Arkadelphia say they’ve caught the person suspected of robbing multiple Dollar General stores in Arkansas.
Court documents filed in Clark County Circuit Court reveal that Rodney Nowden Jr., of Shannon Hills, has been charged with at least one armed robbery of a Dollar General location at 2727 Caddo St., Arkadelphia.
Nowden was a free man from the time of the Feb. 11, 2024, robbery until his arrest three weeks later.
Police actually caught up with the 37-year-old about an hour after customers and store employees reported the robbery to the Arkadelphia Police Department. But law enforcement wouldn’t have enough evidence then to make an arrest.
Customers who were at the store said the robber, brandishing a pistol in his left hand, demanded money from the cash register and fled with a little more than $400 when his demands were met. The suspect reportedly donned a black ski mask and gold-framed glasses, among other descriptions given. The robbery happened at about 8:35 p.m.
It was 9:48 p.m. when police drove up on Nowden sitting inside his parked vehicle at the Silhouette Shop at 131 N. 25th St. He was wearing gold-framed glasses at the time, according to court documents. Nowden’s alibi was that he was in town to visit a friend who lived nearby; he actually phoned said friend, who walked to the location while police were talking with Nowden. The friend told police he was expecting Nowden’s arrival but seemed perplexed that he parked at a nearby business.
Police noted a Dollar General bag containing loose change in the backseat and that Nowden had what “appeared to be a large amount of currency bulging from his pants pockets,” but Nowden wouldn’t give police consent to search the trunk, Investigator Dustin O’Brien notes in an affidavit. Nowden was free to go.
The case might have gone cold had it not been for another robbery, 11 days later, at a Dollar General in the small Pope County town of Atkins, near Russellville. The suspect in that robbery was identified also as wearing a black ski mask and gold-rimmed spectacles; that suspect was also apparently left-handed, like the person who robbed the Arkadelphia store.
The Arkadelphia detective working the case obtained a search warrant on March 4 for Nowden’s home in Central Arkansas, along with his vehicle and cell phone. According to the affidavit, the search yielded clothing that matched what the suspect wore during “multiple” Dollar General robberies. Police haven’t said how many other robberies they believe Nowden to be involved in. The search warrant also turned up “multiple” yellow Dollar General bags, cash, a pistol, and those gold-framed glasses.
Nowden was taken to the APD for questioning but denied involvement in the robbery. He was arrested the same day the search warrant was executed and booked into the Clark County Jail for continued detention until police filed an indictment with the prosecutor’s office. Still serving parole for drug and gun charges from a 2021 sentence in Garland County, Nowden was transferred to the Arkansas Department of Corrections to await future court appearances on the new charges. Court records in Pulaski County indicate that Nowden has served prison time for a 2007 aggravated robbery in the Little Rock area.
Nowden has retained the legal services of Little Rock attorney Willard Proctor Jr., who has filed a slew of motions on his behalf since 9E Prosecuting Attorney Dan Turner filed formal charges in April.
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