Suspect Held After Bomb Injures Woman

A man was arrested Saturday and accused of sending a package bomb that burned his estranged girlfriend’s face and blew windows out of her house.

The victim, Cheryl Taylor, remained hospitalized Saturday.

Roger Eugene Gresham, 50, of Searcy, Ark., was caught while he slept in the cab of his truck at a truck stop in Searcy, Arkansas State Police spokesman Wayne Jordan said. Gresham faced an aggravated-assault charge in Wise County, northwest of Dallas.

Wise County Sheriff Phil Ryan said his office has investigated allegations of theft and threats filed by Taylor and Gresham against each other for the last four months.

A package delivered by United Parcel Service exploded in Taylor’s face on Friday, damaging both eardrums and causing burns on her face and hands.

Taylor was in critical condition Friday at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, about 55 miles southeast of Alvord. A hospital spokeswoman said Saturday that no updated reports were being released at her family’s request.

However, Ryan said she was improving. “She won’t lose her sight,” he added.

Windows on the back of Taylor’s mobile home were knocked out by the blast, and siding around them was charred.

Chemical residue found in the trailer was consistent with a pipe bomb blast, said David Walker of the Wise County Sheriff’s Department.

“From what I was told, it was a family argument that has gone to extremes,” he said.

Nearby schools and homes were evacuated because of fears that other packages delivered by UPS might also be bombs.

Those packages were inspected by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said spokeswoman Sharon Wheeler.

“They’ve scoped and X-rayed them all and they’re all fine,” Wheeler said. “There are no other devices.”

Alvord is a town of 1,000 people.

Searcy, where Gresham was arrested, is a town of 15,200 people about 50 miles northeast of Little Rock, Ark.