Blackmon given prison time on charges from Baxter and Marion Counties

Leigh Blackmon of Flippin pled guilty to charges lodged against him in three Marion County criminal cases and one Baxter County case and was sentenced to five years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last week.The cases in both counties involved theft or attempted theft of items ranging from tire patches to vehicles. The incidents all happened in a fairly short span of time — beginning in early July and ending in early August.

Crimes alleged to have been committed by the 25-year-old Blackmon included the attempted theft of a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse from an auto sales lot in Summit, the theft of tire patches from a Flippin business and the stealing of two pickup trucks — a 1980 Chevrolet taken from a residence along State Highway 178 in Baxter County at the end of July and a 2006 Chevrolet taken in Marion County August 10th.

In some cases, Blackmon’s activities were captured by surveillance cameras, including at the Summit auto sales lot and at the Flippin tire business.

The state dismissed one Marion County case in which Blackmon was accused of stealing the same motorcycle — twice. The probable cause affidavit in the case alleges on or before April 15th, Blackmon went onto another person’s property and took a 2006 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle.

The person claiming ownership of the motorcycle was told by a friend he had seen the motorcycle on Marion County Road 7031. When the alleged owner located the motorcycle, he reportedly found Blackmon passed out and slumped on the gas tank.

Neither Blackmon nor the other person claiming ownership of the bike could provide adequate proof of their claim to the bike. A Marion County deputy sheriff had the motorcycle towed to the Sheriff’s office in Yellville and then to the impound yard at Razorback Towing until the ownership issue could be sorted out.

On May 12th, the owner of Razorback Towing called the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to report someone had cut the fence surrounding his impound lot and had stolen the motorcycle. On May 13th, the Gassville Police Department stopped Blackmon, who was riding the now twice stolen motorcycle, and he was taken into custody.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Blackmon denied stealing the motorcycle from Razorback Towing. He said he was going by the business when he saw the bike in the ditch. He said he got it up to the road and tried to “roll start” it, but had difficulty keeping it running.

In the dismissed case, Blackmon’s charges included theft of property, criminal mischief in the first degree and criminal trespass.

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