PEA RIDGE — Door to door salesman going through the neighborhoods around town were surprised to be questioned, then picked up by police Monday with one man arrested on a warrant for burglary with intent to commit sexual assault.

Two different vans - one withmtwo people and another with seven - were reported by several residents going around town dropping off door to door salesmen.

Derrick Holmes, 29, of Camden, a black male wanted by Texarkana, Texas, Police for burglary with intent to commit sexual assault is an absconder from parole and was charged by Pea Ridge Police with possession of a controlled substance, according to police. He was being held in the Benton County Jail Tuesday, according to jail records.

Police received a report from a woman who said her 15-year-old daughter who was at home alone heard a knock on the door and looked out without opening the door. The people knocking were not anyone she knew, so she called her mother who called police, according to the police report.

“We began to search the area trying to locate the van described,” Pea Ridge Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said. “We found a white van with two people who were doing door to door sales.”

Meanwhile, another officer, searching for the van saw a man walking along Ford Street carrying rags and a spray bottle of cleaner. He was questioned and it was discovered he was one of seven people going door to door with a different group.

A 16-year-old girl baby-sitting two elementary-school childrenanswered the door to find a white male who attempted to sell a cleaning product, according to the resident in Standing Oaks subdivision. The 10-yearold boy told the man to come back later when his mother was home. The mother of the children said the salesman persisted attempting to seek entrance to the residence even when the baby-sitter asked him to leave, police said.

“If anyone comes to your door whom you did not invite or whom you do not recognize, you may call police,” the chief said, adding that youths answering the door should not open the door for strangers nor inform the person that thereis not an adult present.

“We encourage the public to call us if salesmen come to their door who were not requested.”

City ordinance requires door to door salesmen tocheck in at City Hall and purchase a temporary business license.

According to the ordinance, “any person intending to sell goods door-todoor is required to submit an application ... including the person’s name and permanent address, the name of the person the applicant represents, proof of incorporation ... hours of operation ... description of the goods or products to be sold and the duration of the planned sales activities,” according to the city statute.

“The application process is for the safety of our residents,” Ledbetter said.

“Only one of the seven people in the green van had a valid driver’s license. Two did not have an ID and all of the others were from different states.”

Police told the salesmen to go to City Hall to purchase the business license. According to police, although they went to City Hall, after inquiring about the process, they did not buy a license.

News, Pages 1 on 06/22/2011