A Mountain Home man, 35-year-old Robert Chatman, has been arrested and charged in connection with an ATV reported missing in August 2017.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday, the ATV was reported missing by a Gamaliel resident. The victim told investigators the four-wheeler had been left in the woods after a mechanical failure. A few days later when he went to recover the vehicle, it was missing.
The victim said the four-wheeler had been pushed over a broken fence and into the adjoining property.
The officers made contact with a nearby homeowner, who gave them permission to check her barns and outbuildings. The homeowner also told them she was renting another residence to Chatman in trade for work on the property. In visiting with Chatman, he denied any knowledge of the four-wheeler.
In November 2018, the victim contacted law enforcement again saying he had seen a four-wheeler matching his on a Facebook Yard Sale site. The four-wheeler had already been sold, but the previous owner provided information on the purchaser. The seller told the officers he had bought the vehicle a few months prior, and it was not operable.
Officers traced the ATV to the new owner and were able to match its vehicle identification number to the one reported missing over a year earlier. The seller said he had allegedly purchased the four-wheeler around August 2017 from Chatman.
Chatman has been charged with a felony count of theft of property. His bond was set at $10,000.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI