An affidavit was released Monday afternoon in the case against former Flippin Police Chief Ronald Dustin Smith who was arrested and charged with felony theft Monday. According to the affidavit, Arkansas State Police Special Agent Justin Nowlin received a letter from 14th Judicial Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge on October 23rd requesting an investigation into the misuse of over $8,000 in funds from the City of Flippin.Nowlin interviewed the keeper of records for the City of Flippin, identified only as a part-time employee, who had reported the incident to Flippin City Mayor Jerald Marberry. According to the employee, she received an email from a bank saying Smith’s city credit card was within 20 percent of its limit. This was a concern because Smith was apparently on vacation from the Flippin Police Department and heading to Florida to work for a private company. An October bank statement noted $3,700 on Smith’s card. Ninety percent of those charges were from outside the state of Arkansas.
All Flippin police officers are to use their issued credit cards for business purposes only, specifically for fuel or work equipment.
The affidavit notes another officer did similar private work and did not use his government issued card. It also says Smith was off duty and most of the accumulated charges occurred enroute to Florida.
Smith was involved in a lawsuit in May 2016 and was demoted to the department’s media spokesperson. The lawsuit stemmed from accusations of a false arrest. The city eventually paid $20,000 to settle.
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