Dwayne A. Thompson of Mountain Home now faces charges in eight seperate cases that were filed beginning in July and ending only late last month appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the latest case filed against him.
The 41-year-old Thompson is accused of writing a bad check to a local business, being in possession of drugs and breaking into and taking a significant number of items from homes, storage units, a shop building and a commercial establishment scattered in various parts of the county.
One break-in occurred at a shop building located along County Road 27. The victims reported to authorities that more than $25,000 worth of tools, welding equipment and rims and tires were missing. According to court records, Thompson admitted to investigators that he broke into the shop building and removed items.
In one instance, Thompson is said to have told investigators that he spent several nights in one of the houses he allegedly robbed because he had “nowhere to stay”.
According to information provided by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, more than five trailer loads of stolen property were traced to Thompson who was intitially developed as a suspect based on information provided by a confidential informant.
The stolen property was taken to the Baxter County Fairgrounds where it could be displayed in an effort to connect the stolen items to the rightful owners.
At an earlier court appearance, Thompson said that he had been a “good father and worker for 25 years” but encountered domestic problems. “I don’t know what happened at that point. I just went off the rails”.
In addition to the criminal charges, the state has filed a civil suit against Thompson seeking the forfeiture of a 1998 Ford Explorer that was allegedly used by Thompson in furtherance of criminal activity.
14th Judicial District Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kerry Chism told the court that officials are now attempting to pull together figures on the amount of restituion which will be assessed to Thompson. Once that is done, Chism said it would be possible to complete a plea offer in the cases.
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