Man to stand trial in rape of woman he met at club

Gary Bevis
Gary Bevis

A repeat offender accused of beating and raping a woman he met at the Electric Cowboy nightclub in Texarkana, Ark., last year is scheduled for a jury trial later this month.

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In this Nov. 3, 2012, file phot, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) runs past Mississippi State defensive lineman Kaleb Eulls (92) and other defenders for a touchdown in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Starkville, Miss. Manziel and Jadeveon Clowney are providing the star power in the Southeastern Conference's drive for an eighth straight national title not those millionaire coaches. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Gary Lynn Bevis Sr., 45, allegedly forced himself on a woman who needed a ride home from the club Nov. 1, 2015, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account. The woman told investigators an acquaintance introduced her to Bevis, who offered to give her a ride in his red 1987 Toyota pickup.
The alleged victim told police she and Bevis stopped at Mr. D's nightclub after leaving the Electric Cowboy. Mr. D's was closing down for the night, and the manager asked a bartender who was cleaning up to ask the woman and Bevis to leave. The bartender told police the woman asked him for a ride but he was unable to leave.
"She stated that she didn't feel safe and she felt something might happen to her," according to the affidavit. "(The bartender) gave her his phone number and told her to call him and let him know she got home safe. He walked out and saw them get into a red/maroon truck that had loud exhaust."
The bartender at Mr. D's was almost home when he called the woman to check on her and she said she'd been beaten and raped. The woman, who was unsure of her exact location, was on the side of Mandeville Road, naked and bleeding. The bartender turned around and began heading toward the area he believed the woman to be when he spied the red truck he'd seen her and Bevis leave in earlier in the morning. The bartender, who described the truck as "hauling a-" with "squalling tires," followed the truck and called police.
The bartender trailed the truck as it drove into Ashdown, Ark., where it was stopped by local law enforcement. Bevis was arrested on DWI charges and booked into the Little River County jail.
At about 5:54 a.m. a detective found the distraught woman on the roadside in the 4700 block of Mandeville Road. The woman had put some of her clothes back on but some pieces remained on the ground. The woman pointed out a shirt and a belt with the letter B on the buckle, which she alleges her attacker left behind when he fled.
The woman alleges Bevis pulled into a secluded spot on the side of the road and told her, "You are going to give me some."
The woman told detectives that when she said no to Bevis, he got out of the truck, walked to the passenger door, opened it and hit her in the face. Bevis allegedly told the woman she was going to have sex with him whether she wanted to or not.
"She said the suspect pulled her boots off and her pants down and began the assault in the truck," the affidavit states. "While in the truck he strangled the victim and struck her several times. He then pulled her out of the truck and onto the ground beside the truck."
The alleged victim told investigators Bevis became enraged when she managed to kick him into a nearby ditch, and he threatened to kill her and sodomize her during the attack if she continued to resist. Bevis allegedly put the woman back in the truck but threw her out after she managed to communicate with the Mr. D's bartender.
When Bevis was arrested Ashdown, he was not wearing a shirt or a belt.
The woman was taken by ambulance to CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana, where a sexual assault exam was performed and she was treated for her injuries.
The rape charge pending against Bevis is not the first allegation of sexual misconduct he has faced. In 2001 Bevis pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse involving a girl under 14. Bevis touched the girl inappropriately at different times in 1998 and 1999, court records show. Bevis received a four-year term of probation, which he successfully completed.
Bevis is free on bond, having posted $100,000 bail on Nov. 5, 2015. If convicted of rape, he faces 10 to 40 years or life in an Arkansas prison. Bevis is represented by Texarkana lawyer Danny Cook. The case is scheduled for jury selection Oct. 24 before Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson at the Miller County courthouse. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell is handling the case for the state.
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