Body cam video shows girl rescued from compartment hidden in Arkansas home's closet

A northwest Arkansas man is facing felony charges including false imprisonment after police rescued a 5-year-old girl found hidden in a small, secret closet in his home.

The rescue, captured on police body camera, took place Thursday in Tontitown, a city in Washington County, about 12 miles east of the Oklahoma state line.

On the day of the rescue, officers with the Tontitown Police Department responded to the home of a 40-year-old man to serve a search warrant, Detective Keith Lindley told USA TODAY on Monday.

According to an arrest report, the officers were at the home to assist the state Department of Human Services in taking custody of a 5-year-old girl.

At the home, the report shows, the suspect came to the front window and an officer told him a judge had issued a court order to remove the girl from the home.

The suspect told police the child was not at his home and initially refused to open the door, according to the arrest report.

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Nailed to the wall

At some point, after speaking with the officer, the suspect admitted the girl was inside and allowed officers into the home. While inside, police wrote in the report, they heard noises coming from a bedroom.

The suspect entered the bedroom, according to the report, got down on his knees in a closet and then moved several boxes.

In the video, the man who is wearing a backwards baseball cap and overalls, is seen fiddling underneath clothing inside the small closet.

The suspect then pulls a board nailed to the wall "to get access to a small space" behind the closet, the report continues. Footage then shows the girl eventually emerge from the space.

"She was very emotional when she came out and pretty scared," Lindley said. "He had instructed her not to make a sound or reveal she was back there."

According to the report, the space the child was confined to behind the wall was "six to eight feet at the widest point going down to maybe two to four feet at the other."

Girl placed into custody of DHS

The girl, Lindley said, did not appear to be harmed and was placed into DHS custody.

At the time of his arrest the man was out on bond on unrelated charges out of Benton County, located directly north of Washington County.

"He was on bond in connection for a methamphetamine charge from our neighbor city to the north," Lindley said.

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Free on bond

Police arrested the man on charges of first-degree child endangerment, interference with court ordered custody in connection to the incident.

He was booked into the Washington County jail on Friday, Lindley said, and posted a $5,000 bond Monday morning after appearing in court and entering a not guilty plea.

It was not immediately known if the man had obtained an attorney.

He is due back in court on Dec. 4.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.