Landowner sees stranger driving his tractor, loading hay, feeding his horses
Izard County authorities have arrested a Lonoke County man, 45-year-old John J. Steer, after he was discovered by a landowner driving his tractor, loading hay and feeding his horses. Steer has been charged with felony counts of theft of property and breaking or entering.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the victim confronted Steer, learned he was armed with a holstered knife and notified law enforcement.
Deputies, assisted by an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officer, took Steer into custody as he exhibited incoherent behavior, while reporting the property was his.
The Lonoke man, utilizing a front loader, had removed a hay bale from a shed and taken it a nearby pasture to distribute to horses. The victim had managed to secure the tractor keys during his brief interaction with the stranger driving his tractor.
Steer said he had reached the property utilizing an ATV, at that point parked at a nearby shed with his walking cane. Referring to the ATV, he said “the good Lord and the Masons had given (it) to him.”
He said he took the ATV from a nearby residence, later determined to be along Springhill Road in Oxford.
Further investigation revealed Steer had driven his vehicle onto unoccupied residential property on a dead-end lane. He made murmurs about living in an old burned out structure and outbuildings.
When officers located his abandoned vehicle in an overgrown grassy area near an outbuilding, several items, including power tools, hand tools, dog food and personal items belonging to Steer, were placed outside of it with the hood open and windows open.
A large shop building had been forced open by cutting the padlock. The property owner identified some of the items beside the vehicle as his. He recovered two 45-degree, 6-inch diameter stove pipe sections he knew were in a shop building.
Steer’s bond was set at $25,000.
____________________________________________________________________
Inmate serving life sentence in Boone County trooper shooting found dead at Arkansas prison
TUCKER, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas prison officials say an inmate at a maximum-security unit serving a life sentence from a Boone County case has died after he was found unresponsive in his cell.
Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves says inmate Michael Spurlock was found unresponsive early last Saturday in his cell at the Tucker maximum-security prison. Graves says the 48-year-old inmate was pronounced dead shortly thereafter at 5:17 a.m. Saturday.
No cause of death has been released.
Graves says agents with Arkansas State Police will conduct an investigation into the death.
Spurlock was serving a life sentence for criminal attempt at capital murder out of Boone County.
Harrison Daily Times archives indicate Spurlock, who was from Martinsville, Ind., entered a guilty plea to attempted capital murder in Boone County Circuit Court in 2006.
His girlfriend, Latoya Nicole Randolph, 20, of Mooresville, Ind., was charged largely as an accessory in the case. She also pled guilty and was sentenced to 20 years.
In April 2006, Arkansas State Police Corporal Robert Meek tried to stop the vehicle Spurlock was driving. However, Spurlock fled and a chase ensued, but it finally ended when Spurlock parked the car.
Spurlock then exited the stolen vehicle and opened fire on Meek with a sawed-off shotgun.
Meek was hit with a single blast in the left arm and chest, but he also was able to return fire from his service weapon and hit Spurlock twice in the left side.
Spurlock entered a guilty plea and accepted the maximum penalty possible, rather than the possibility of a trial in which he could present mitigating circumstances that might lessen his sentence.
Randolph appeared before Circuit Judge Gordon Webb and admitted her involvement in the case.
However, she also pleaded guilty to unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle stemming from an incident that occurred the same day as Meek’s shooting.
Randolph pled guilty to shooting at a pickup on Sansing Hollow Road earlier that day while riding in the stolen vehicle. Two men were standing by the truck at the time when a bullet hit it.
Both Spurlock and Randolph pled guilty to burglary of two houses in Boone County, as well as theft of property.
A third suspect and a passenger in the car that day, 25-year-old Brian Otto Holzheimer of Harrison, like Randolph pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to prison as well.
The following year, Trooper Meek of Harrison received the 2006 Arkansas State Trooper of the Year Award. At that time, Corporal Meek was a 32-year veteran of the department, assigned to Highway Patrol Division, Troop I in Harrison.
Corporal Meek was also named among three state troopers to receive the Arkansas State Police Medal of Valor that year, recognizing the incident the prior year evolving from an attempted enforcement stop beginning with a speeding violation.
Despite his wounds, Corporal Meek was able to return fire, wounding Spurlock, then reported his position by radio to Troop I headquarters and requested assistance.
____________________________________________________________________
Mountain Home man on BCSO Most Wanted List arrested
A Mountain Home man who was added to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office Most Wanted List earlier this month has been arrested for taking money from customers of his roofing business and then not performing the work. Twenty-nine-year-old John James Downing was apprehended last Sunday and booked into the Baxter County Detention center on several felony and misdemeanor charges.
According to arrest affidavits in the case, Downing allegedly took money from two different customers of his business High Bridge Roofing and Construction for roofing work which was never performed.
The first incident occurred in August when Downing was paid $1700 to make roof repairs to a residence in Baxter County. The victim was told repeatedly by Downing the work would be done but it never was. The victim says Downing kept telling him the roof would be done soon but eventually he quit answering phone calls from the victim.
A Mountain Home resident reported a similar incident to Mountain Home Police which occurred in October. The victim says he gave Downing a check for $4700 for roofing work. The day after he paid Downing, the victim discovered Downing had no insurance and his contractor’s license was expired. He asked for Downing to return the check but Downing did not return phone calls. The victim filed a report with police and then next day Downing was arrested for trespassing. He was interviewed by police and agreed to bring a cashier’s check the next day to repay the victim but he never showed.
Downing is charged with two felony counts of theft of property along with a felony count of obtaining a signature by deception and two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear.
Downing was arrested in August of last year on a felony theft of property charge after he allegedly took $2,250 from another customer for roofing work that was never done. That incident happened in May of last year.
____________________________________________________________________
1 to BRMC when vehicle collides with FedEx truck
One person was transported to Baxter Regional Medical Center after the vehicle she was driving collided with a FedEx delivery truck on State Highway 5 North last Friday afternoon.
According to a Mountain Home Police Department report released Tuesday, the accident occurred when 17-year-old Ashley Roemmich of Mountain Home failed to stop for a FedEx delivery truck attempting to make a right turn into a business parking lot.
Roemmich’s vehicle rear-ended the delivery truck driven by 31-year-old Roger Bell Jr. of Lead Hill, knocking it into a large sign at ImageNThings.
Roemmich was transported by ambulance to BRMC for treatment of what the report indicates was a suspected minor injury.
Both vehicles were towed from the scene of the 12:17 p.m. accident, with Roemmich cited for careless driving.
____________________________________________________________________
Man charged with stealing from MH employer, now facing similar charge in Marion County
The former manager of a Mountain Home retail store charged in 2018 after he allegedly stole more than $107,000 from his employer is now facing a similar charge in Marion County.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday, 51-year-old Robert Wyble of Gassville if now facing an additional felony theft of property charge.
The latest charge follows a Bull Shoals storeowner advising law enforcement after hearing about the Baxter County case she believes Wyble may have stolen thousands of dollars from her while in her employment.
The woman then produced several checks she had written to the Gassville man for inventory for a business she was opening in Bull Shoals. She also provided copies of receipts for various items Wyble claimed he had purchased for her on his debit card.
A total of $17,236 in checks had been written and cashed by the Baxter County man.
In an interview with Bull Shoals Police, Wyble allegedly admitted taking the payments from the victim and never delivering any of the goods or services for which she had paid him.
The amount of his bond was equal to the amount of reportedly stolen funds.
In September, Wyble was charged with felony counts of theft of property and forgery in Baxter County Circuit Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit in the earlier case, Wyble had been working for a Mountain Home retailer for the past 10 years and was in charge of the store’s financials.
During the interview, Wyble is alleged to have admitted to creating false documents and turning them into the company for reimbursement.
At the time of the investigation, Wyble had reportedly forged 63 checks and created false documents from January 2015 through the end of May 2018 when he was fired.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI