A Marion County man was returned to Baxter County after being arrested on a bench warrant in an alleged theft incident in February. According to Baxter County Sheriff’s Captain Jeff Lewis, 34-year-old David Smith of Flippin was picked up Monday morning in Mountain View and transported to the Baxter County Detention Center on counts of breaking or entering, theft of property and a parole violation. His bond is set at $5,000.
Sheriff’s Investigator Brad Hurst reported in an early March affidavit the owner of Buzzard Roost Boat Dock notified authorities of thefts and two suspicious men at the marina. After reviewing surveillance video, he observed two men in and around their vehicle between nine and ten on the evening of the incident. The men walked up the ramp to the dock and began fishing. After a few minutes, the pair allegedly climbed over the locked gate leading to the dock. A clip from the video show one of the men walking down a narrow beam between two boats and reaching into an uncovered boat. The owner of the boat reported to be missing two fishing rods valued at $79, and another customer of the marina reported a kayak missing with a value of $250.
Images of the men were taken from the video and posted on the sheriff’s Facebook page, and a number of tips came in to the sheriff’s office. The first suspect, 18-year-old Osborn Eugene Gavel, was located March 6th and asked to go to the sheriff’s office for an interview. He allegedly admitted to being with Smith at the marina, climbing the fence and takinig the kayak, rods, reels and two beers from a cooler on the dock. Gavel appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court and entered a not guilty plea March 16th, and he was released the next day after posting a bond of $5,510.
Smith’s first original court date is scheduled for August 3rd.
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