A man locked up in Izard County since November for trying to scam an elderly woman out of nearly $20,000 has picked up 11 additional charges, eight of them felonies, for an incident in the jail this month. Thirty-year-old Darren James Burton of Clarksville, Tennessee is now being held on bonds totaling $350,000.
According to the probable cause affidavit from the Izard County Sheriff’s Office, maintenance personnel were working on a plumbing issue next to Burton’s cell. Burton started throwing papers out of the food pass access of his cell door and then started squirting liquid which hit one of the workers.
Burton, who had covered his hands and face with ink from a pen, was handcuffed and moved to an isolation cell. After the guards took the handcuffs off, Burton broke the light fixture and tore pieces of it off. He then broke the sprinkler head off, causing the cell to flood, and then broke the window out of the cell door and started throwing the broken pieces out of the cell, hitting the booking computer monitor and other items in the booking area. Damage in the cell and booking area are in excess of $1,000.
The next day, when the jailer was giving Burton his medications, Burton grabbed the device used to obtain the inmate’s signatures to prove they received their medications and retreated away from the door. When deputies arrived, Burton ran out of his cell and started breaking things in the booking area, including the device he had taken which is valued at $1,000. Damage in the booking area was estimated at $1,000. He also knocked over the jailer who was assisting in trying to stop him which resulted in injuries requiring medical attention at the emergency room.
Later that morning, Burton broke the sprinkler head in his cell, again causing the cell to flood.
His charges for the jail incident include second degree escape, criminal attempt at second degree escape, two counts of impairing the operation of a vital public facility, two counts of first degree criminal mischief, theft of property, and second degree battery, all felonies; along with three misdemeanor counts of first degree assault. His bond on the new charges is $100,000.
PREVIOUS ARREST
Burton was originally arrested in November when the victim reported she had received a text saying $19,400 had been taken from her bank account. She then started receiving texts from the scammer saying he wanted to help her retrieve the money.
The man told the elderly woman to put $19,400 in a box and he would send a courier to pick it up, would duplicate it and deposit it her account for her. The caller claimed to have apprehended five of the seven scammers.
The Izard County Sheriff’s Office set up surveillance of the woman’s home and when the car arrived, it turned out to be a Lyft driver hired by Burton. The driver said he was supposed to pick up the package and take it to a hotel in Searcy.
Burton was arrested the next day in Searcy when he came to collect the box. He was charged with criminal attempt to commit theft by deception; criminal attempt, abuse of an endangered or impaired person; unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate certain crimes; and use of a communication device during a felony crime, all felonies. His bond on those charges is set at $250,000.
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