Man with no arms accused of harassing women by asking to touch their feet

CONWAY, Ark. (KARK) — A warrant has been issued in Arkansas for a man with no arms who is accused of harassing women.

Three women have filed reports in Faulkner County about a man identified as Brian Reams harassing them while shopping in Conway.

Police said the incidents occurred between September 2020 and June 2021 at a Walmart and a Kroger store.

“They were all very frightened and very uncomfortable by these incidents that occurred,” said Lacey Kanipe, a Conway Police Department information officer.

According to police reports, Reams is accused of following the women around the stores and making inappropriate comments to them. In one report, a woman said Reams, who has neither of his arms, asked if he could massage her feet.

“These scenarios are all very similar,” Kanipe said.

Conway City Attorney Charles Finkenbinder said some people don’t speak out about cases like this, and sometimes authorities find out about them through social media.

“These women were strong enough to come forward,” Finkenbinder said. “They may report it on social media, and they typically do so not for their own benefit, not to get any attention, but to warn other people. And that was really how we became aware of a lot of these incidents.”

Finkenbinder said a sense of safety is what’s being taken away.

“The message that we’re trying to send out is that right is sacred, the right to be safe,” Finkenbinder said. “If someone steals another person’s sense of safety and security, that can’t easily be restored. I can’t easily get that back.”

Both Finkenbinder and Conway police hope this will encourage others to report such incidents, no matter how small they may seem.

“We want people to feel safe in public, and we want them to understand their story matters. People do have the right to go out in public without being harassed,” Kanipe said.