Jury to be chosen today in rape trial

Man accused of beating, raping woman after leaving nightclub

Gary Bevis
Gary Bevis

Jury selection is scheduled to begin today for an area man accused of beating and raping a woman who accepted a ride from him last November at a local nightclub.

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Gary Lynn Bevis Sr., 46, of Horatio, Ark., faces 10 to 40 years or life if convicted of rape. Jury selection is scheduled for Monday afternoon before Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson at Miller County Courthouse in Texarkana.

Bevis allegedly forced himself on a woman who needed a ride home Nov. 1, 2015, from the Electric Cowboy in Texarkana, Ark., 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 allegedly told him 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 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.

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. When Bevis was arrested in Ashdown, he was not wearing a shirt or a belt.

The woman alleges Bevis pulled his truck over in a secluded area where he beat, choked and raped her.

The woman was taken by ambulance to CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System in Texarkana, Texas, 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 younger than 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.

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