A former Hot Springs man was arrested Wednesday after being paid to repair a man’s vehicle and allegedly never returned the vehicle or the money paid for the repairs.
Rex Allen Bennett, 42, who now lists an address in West Helena, was taken into custody shortly after 4 p.m. at the Garland County Detention Center and charged with one count of theft of property, punishable 10 years in prison.
Bennett, who also had a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear, remained in custody on Thursday on zero bond and is due in Garland County District Court today. According to court records, Bennett was arrested on September 22, 2021, for felony possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia and is expected to be arraigned in county circuit court on Tuesday. of Garland.
Bennett had previously been convicted of one count of possession of a controlled substance on July 28, 2014 in Monroe County and sentenced to three years probation.
According to Wednesday’s probable cause affidavit for arrest, a local man filed a complaint with the Garland County Sheriff’s Office alleging that in late February 2021 he gave $750 and his 1999 Chrysler Concord, worth $4,832.81, to Bennett to repair the vehicle.
Repairs should have been made at the Good Ole Boyz Auto Repair Shop, 3305 Highway 7 North, and Bennett allegedly towed the vehicle from the victim’s residence on Walnut Street.
The victim told investigators he had seen his vehicle parked at Good Ole Boyz ‘for several months’, but each time he spoke to Bennett he received ‘a different excuse’ as to why the repairs had failed. been completed.
In mid-September, the victim said he was no longer able to get in contact with Bennett and could not locate his vehicle. After further investigation, a warrant was issued for Bennett.
Calls made to Good Ole Boyz Auto Repair on Thursday to see if Bennett worked there or had ever worked there had not been returned at press time.
