Tyler Ray Bell of Mountain Home whose invitation to investigators with the Baxter County Sheriff’s office to check out his boat led to his arrest on breaking or entering and theft charges has pled no contest to those offenses. Bell entered his plea during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last Thursday.
The 33-year-old Bell was put on probation for 10 years.
Bell’s invitation to inspect the boat came when investigators arrived at a Henderson residence searching for people who were wanted on outstanding warrants. While visiting the home of one of the subjects, they encountered Bell. He told them he was waiting on his son so the two could go fishing.
At one point — in what was described as a friendly conversation — Bell invited the investigators to look over his boat. They took Bell up on his offer and immediately saw items in the watercraft appearing to match those reportedly stolen from boats and storage lockers at a private dock in the Hand Cove area. The theft was reported in early December last year.
The investigators said they observed a number of rods and reels, trolling motors, batteries and other marine and fishing items. The investigators said they casually looked at the items and photographed them.
The photographs were sent to the two victims who lost property in the thefts at the dock. The victims recognized items in Bell’s boat as belonging to them.
A second case against Bell stemmed from a Dec. 19th compliance visit by parole and probation officers to the residence in Henderson where the Mountain Home man and two other probationers lived. All three had warrantless search waivers on file. During the home visit, a number of items of drug paraphernalia were found, including syringes and digital scales.
In the dining room area of the home, officers found a piece of notebook paper containing what appeared to be a ledger documenting the sales, purchases and trades of illegal drugs. The paper contained a financial record of money owed and money received for various controlled substances. There was also documentation of a trade involving drugs and a chainsaw.
Bell was also facing the revocation of a suspended sentence in an earlier case where he ran afoul of technology when he and a codefendant attempted to rob a residence on Westridge Road in the last days of 2013. The homeowner was out of town at the time, but his security system alerted him of a possible break-in at his home. The owner accessed the security system cameras and saw two men in his residence and called the sheriff’s office.
Video footage of the break-in assisted investigators in developing Bell and his codefendant as suspects. Bell pled guilty and was put on probation for 10 years in September 2014.
According to a petition to revoke his suspended sentence in the break-in case, which was filed in April, Bell was accused of failing to report to his supervising officer and failing to pay supervision fees.
As part of Bell’s plea agreement, the state dismissed the revocation petition.
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