It Does Happen Here

More than $1 million worth of jewelry was stolen from Perry’s Jewelry in Fayetteville during the March 1982 abduction of owners Bob and Doris Perry and their son, Hoyt.

The highly publicized robbery of the family’s upscale store on College Avenue was the work of a New York Mafia-backed drug syndicate. The group was running large quantities of drugs into Northwest Arkansas, said Dick O’Connell, Fayetteville’s former FBI agent in charge.

Operating off a tip from a neighbor, three gunmen ambushed Bob Perry around 9 p.m. as he returned home from closing the store one day. Their plan was to heist Perry’s jewels and trade them for drugs back east.

Hoyt, then 15, was upstairs talking on the phone when one of the robbers walked in to his bedroom pointing a gun.

“I just freaked and slammed the phone down,” Perry said. “My friend called right back, and with a gun pointed at my head I just had to say Dad wanted me. … All I know is if you think it can’t happen to you, you’re wrong.”

O’Connell, now owner of O’Connell Investigative Associates Inc. of Fayetteville, said Bob Perry smartly buddied up to the robbers. He called them “pros” and told his family to cooperate completely. O’Connell said that probably saved their lives.

The Perrys were handcuffed and had their eyes taped shut until morning. Bob was then taken to the store and Louis Ricarte, Terry Brannen and Jim Clark made off with the loot. The gunmen were all later caught, convicted and received lengthy prison sentences.

O’Connell said the case actually led to 10 convictions including organized crime members in New York. Most of the jewelry was recovered.

The Perry’s have since greatly enhanced their business and personal security. They now use guard dogs and various other security devices.

Other area business and high-profile people have taken similar precautions. After receiving numerous threats from renegade political activists in the early 1990s, Springdale First Baptist Church Senior Pastor Ronnie W. Floyd hired a bodyguard.

“Right about the same time we began our national TV ministry, there were some incidents that made us take action,” Floyd said. “We have security protection both for me and around our campus because of the masses of people who worship here.”

Floyd said the church, which has about 10,000 members, is now “blanketed” with various security measures. He contacted the Springdale Police Department when a number of anonymous threatening phone calls and trespassers caused concern.