Norfork man gets prison sentence for theft charges

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    Tyler Hudgens pled no contest to charges against him during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and was sentenced to 15 years in prison with eight suspended and seven to serve, and ordered to pay almost $32,500 in restitution.

    The 32-year-old Norfork man was, at one point, charged with almost 60 felony and misdemeanor counts stemming from a rash of thefts extending back to October last year. The state dismissed two of the most recently filed cases.

    The initial investigation focused on thefts, mainly from two marinas on Lake Norfork. Hudgens was first developed as a suspect based on a report from one of the marinas that surveillance cameras on the dock captured a man taking fuel tanks from pontoon boats in the early morning hours of September 11th last year.

    During the following weeks, numerous reports were made by boat owners at the two marinas that they were missing items — including fuel tanks, fishing equipment as well as trailer wheels and tires.

    Thefts at the two docks as well as a storage unit on State Highway 5 South and residential burglaries in the Jordan area were eventually tied back to Hudgens.

    The investigation was aided by information e-mailed to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Tip Line in which the sender wrote that Hudgens had been bringing numerous items to his residence, including fishing gear, and storing it in and around an outbuilding on his property. When investigators went to the informant’s home, they were told that Hudgens lived in a camper-trailer on the property with a female relative of the homeowner.

    With the owner’s permission, investigators searched the outbuilding area and found many items matching those that had been reported stolen, including four rods and reels that were among 13 taken from the storage unit on Highway 5 South. According to court records, property recovered in the initial search alone was valued at approximately $15,000.

    At the time the probable cause affidavit was written in the first case, 19 separate incident reports had been linked to Hudgens.

    As Hudgens sat in the Baxter County jail, more stolen items were reported and traced back to him. Items listed as stolen included building materials, a jeep engine, a fireplace insert, tractor implements, propane cylinders, a took box, grease gun and chainsaw lubricant.

    Hudgens has been jailed since October 20th of last year. He celebrated his 32nd birthday in the county lockup on April 2nd this year. He will receive credit for jail time served.






   


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