BC man charged with taking property from victim of fatal auto accident sentenced

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A rural Mountain Home man facing charges in two cases — including being accused of removing jewelry and other property from the victim of a fatal automobile crash in mid-October last year — was sentenced to six years probation during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.

Thirty-three-year-old David Simmons, who lives along County Road 16, entered a guilty plea to one set of charges against him and no contest to those stemming from the property removal at the scene of the fatal accident. A no contest plea is one in which the defendant does not admit guilt but concedes the state could prove its case at trial.

Simmons was charged with theft of property and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the October incident and with drug-related offenses in December last year.

According to the probable cause affidavit concerning the fatal auto crash, the victim, identified as Simmons’ girlfriend, had been visiting at a residence in Yellville. In preparing to leave for her home in Oakland, the victim was reported to have remarked she would prefer not to return home since she had been having problems with Simmons.

As the victim traveled to Oakland, Simmons pulled in behind her near Bull Shoals Dam, only a few miles from State Highway 178 near Stone Dog Lane where the accident happened. Simmons and his girlfriend were reported to be talking and texting as they drove down the highway.

Investigators say the vehicle driven by the victim left the roadway and struck a culvert, sending it airborne. The victim was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Simmons pulled up to the crash site, but, instead of rendering aid, he began to remove property belonging to the victim, including her purse, cellphone and jewelry. Simmons is reported to have left the scene without making a report of the accident.

The drug-related charges were filed in December last year as the result of a search for Simmons who was wanted on an outstanding felony warrant. The record is silent on whether the warrant had to do with the October car crash. Officers located Simmons hiding in the closet of a residence in the Lakeview area. They reported finding drugs and drug paraphernalia in the residence and in a vehicle Simmons had been driving.

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