Retired cop may have seen two men wanted in North Little Rock slaying

By Bill Lawson / Staff Writer / blawson@nlrtimes.com
Friday, December 25, 2009 3:06 PM CST

A retired Pulaski County sheriff's patrol commander with 30 years service just happened to be taking a reminiscing drive down North Little Rock's Division Street moments before the Christmas Eve shooting of a Salvation Army major. He gave police descriptions of men who may be the two armed assailants and a possible accomplice.

The retired lawman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he was driving down the street where he grew up — Division Street, just about a block away from the scene of the murder minutes before it happened. In an exclusive interview with The North Little Rock Times, the man said his police instincts caused him to slow down to about six mph just to watch the three men out his back window.

He described the two men all dressed in black as one taller and thinner and one shorter and stockier. However, he said, because of the clothing they were wearing, it was difficult to gauge their true build.

The decorated ex-sheriff said the tallest was about five-feet-11-inches tall, with short hair, wearing a black outfit with a thin white stripe around it. The second man was about five-feet-nine-inches tall and had a stocky build.

What attracted his attention was the way the men were just standing around with hands in their pockets, looking suspicious, he said.

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A third man, dressed in more expensive red athletic attire, was standing nearby on a corner and appeared to be acting as a lookout peering down toward the back of the building where Phillip Wise, 40, was shot and murdered.

The man dressed in red appeared to be more athletic and was wearing what looked like a school letterman's jacket, although it had no letter on it, he said. All three appeared to be in their late teens to early 20s, he said.

What prompted the remembrance, the retired officer said, was reading the story about the slaying on The North Little Rock Times Web site. He said when he first heard the news on TV, he didn't make the connection to his Christmas Eve drive down memory lane because the television report said it occurred at 18th and Division Streets.

However, once he read the story on The Times Web site and saw the address as 1505 Division, he said it prompted his memory because he used to live just a few blocks away and also near that address.

After reading the story, he said he called North Little Rock police detectives and described the three men he saw.

The former sheriff's lieutenant said he was so suspicious that, if he had been on patrol, he would have stopped and checked out the men.

North Little Rock police said the shooting occurred around 4:15 p.m., shortly after Maj. Wise had dropped off bell ringers from collection work Christmas Eve. The 16-year Salvation Army officer was gunned down as he walked into the back entrance of the Salvation Army building at 1505 Division St., according to police.

Sgt. Terry Kuykendall said police wouldn't confirm whether the two killers actually took money, but they confirmed that the men demanded money from Wise and that the victim was able to call 911 before he died on the scene.

Several North Little Rock residents expressed shock that a man who did so much to help the Baring Cross neighborhood where he was killed would be killed there.

Wise’s untimely death marks the 15th homicide of the year in North Little Rock.