The criminal history of Mountain Home resident Zachary Bales is littered with cases involving charges mainly dealing with possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia — but also with a couple of fairly high dollar thefts and one bizarre incident in which he claimed to have a pack of robotic dogs that might attack a deputy who was arresting him.
Bales currently has seven active criminal cases in Baxter County Circuit Court.
He made an appearance in circuit court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the latest charges filed against him.
According to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, Bales has been booked into the detention center for various reasons more than 16 times since 2012. He is an inmate there now. His bond, according to the jail log, is set at $85,000.
The continuing stream of charges included those related to events this month and stretch back to mid-September last year.
On April 20th, a search warrant based on a tip led officers to search a home along West North Street where Bales and Taylor Dewitt were arrested.
Police reported finding almost five grams of methamphetamine, paraphernalia used to ingest the drug, and two weapons, including a sawed-off 12 gauge shotgun.
On April 20th, Bales, Dewitt and a third person, Anthony Dechow, are alleged to have participated in a break-in at the Citgo station located along Buzzard Roost Cutoff Road. Video surveillance captured a person breaking the glass on the front door of the business, gaining entrance and taking a large amount of cash and an unknown number of lottery tickets.
When Dechow was interviewed, he said Bales and Dewitt dropped him off at the Citgo and admitted he was the one who actually broke into the building. He said the three people split the money, with Bales receiving the largest share.
On January 23rd, Mountain Home Police stopped a vehicle in which Bales was a passenger. At the time, he had an outstanding felony warrant and was found to have a glass-smoking pipe with residue field testing positive for methamphetamine.
On January 3rd, Bales was allegedly involved in the burglary of a Mountain Home business located along Commerce Drive where items valued at almost $2,500 were taken. Entry to the store was gained by breaking out a glass window.
Bales told officers the stolen items had been brought to him by a friend to be sold.
On January 5th, officers served a search warrant related to the theft at the business along Commerce Drive. When officers went to Bales’ home, they reported finding almost all of the stolen telephones and other electronics taken from the store. In addition to the electronics, the officers also found syringes, glass smoking pipes, digital scales, a box with a large round magnet glued to it, similar to those commonly used to transport illegal substances concealed underneath a vehicle. It was during this search that almost $830 in cash was found, which the state is seeking to seize through a forfeiture action.
On September 17th last year, Bales and another man — Ryan Kinsley-Daniszewski — are both alleged to have been involved in the theft of a 2008 Arctic Cat Prowler UTV from the lot of Ideal RV along State Highway 5 North. Surveillance video shows two males — later identified as Bales and Kinsley-Daniszewski — enter the gated compound at the business in a light colored minivan and then leave with the UTV valued at about $7,000.
A tip was received by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office complete with a picture of the stolen UTV. The person who had the picture said Bales had provided it allegedly indicating he wanted to trade the UTV for drugs.
Both Bales and Kinsley-Daniszewski were arrested and charged with the theft.
On September 18th, a Baxter County deputy observed a vehicle pull out of a mobile home park onto State Highway 5 driving north. The deputy reported the vehicle came to an abrupt stop on the side of the road with its emergency flashers on.
Before the deputy pulled up behind the vehicle to check on the situation, the driver and passenger both got out of the vehicle and started shining flashlights toward the ground.
Both the driver, later identified as Bales, and one of the passengers — Kevin Quinton — got back in the car as the deputy approached. The deputy reported Bales appeared very nervous with his hands shaking and displaying difficulty in answering simple questions.
Bales told the deputy he was from Pennsylvania, but gave the deputy a driving permit from California.
As the deputy searched the vehicle, he located a set of small scales with the residue of a white crystal-like substance, two glass-smoking pipes, and a .25 caliber pistol. The deputy also reported finding a brown wooden box on the ground on the passenger’s side of the vehicle. The box contained suspected marijuana and a smoking pipe.
On October 22nd, Bales was involved in a somewhat bizarre encounter with the law when Baxter County deputies were called to an address along Kingsberry Drive. When the deputy arrived, the residents reported a male unknown to them — later identified as Bales — had been sitting on their porch and had, for some time, showed no inclination to leave.
Bales had, however, left the address before the deputy arrived, but had left personal property behind on the porch including his wallet and identification papers.
As the deputy was wrapping up the investigation at the Kingsberry Drive address, he was dispatched to an address on Buzzard Roost Cutoff where a white male was reported to be on the porch of the home with a knife yelling and demanding to be allowed into the residence.
The deputy did find Bales sitting on a bench on the front porch of the home on Buzzard Roost Cutoff. The deputy said Bales appeared to be heavily under the influence of some type of stimulate.
After the deputy had handcuffed Bales and was taking him to his patrol car, the deputy reported the Mountain Home man became delusional and started barking like a dog. He claimed the house on Buzzard Roost Cutoff was his and warned the deputy he had a pack of robotic dogs that would attack the lawman.
Bales was charged with public intoxication and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors, as a result of the October 22nd event.
The list of lengthy charges against Bales now includes possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, criminal use of a prohibited weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, theft by receiving, theft of property and breaking or entering.
Many of the crimes contain multiple counts.
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