Michael Joseph Pedry of Gassville was sentenced to five years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court after he pled guilty to stealing two vehicles.
The 53-year-old Pedry had initially been charged with stealing a 2004 Chevrolet crew cab pickup truck. The theft was reported to the Baxter County Sheriff’s office July 11th. The stolen truck was located the next day on the parking lot of a local grocery store. One of the store’s surveillance cameras caught the image of a man, identified as Pedry, driving the stolen truck onto the parking lot where he abandoned it. He was last seen on the security cameras walking eastbound toward Mountain Home. Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Pedry, he was located and taken into custody.
A $5,000 bond was set for Pedry September 22nd on the first theft charge.
The second vehicle, a 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup, was stolen from a parking lot at Baxter Regional Medical Center on November 7th. The Mountain Home Police Department was alerted to the theft about 11 p.m. The next day, an officer with the Bull Shoals Police Department saw the stolen vehicle pull into the Dollar General Store in Bull Shoals. Pedry was driving the vehicle and was taken into custody. According to the probable cause affidavit, Pedry admitted to Mountain Home Police Department officers that he had stolen the vehicle and that he was taking methamphetamine at the time of the theft.
During the sentencing, Judge John Putman asked Pedry what he intended to do with the trucks and Pedry said he “just wanted to drive them”.
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